Death is certain
by anuminis
Summary: A series of murders shocks L.A. and brings the team to the brink of abyss of the human mind. pre-slash Colby/Don you've been warned, but its nothing more that a few glances and astray thoughts. Warning: violent and cruel images
1. Prelude: Before the Storm

Title: Death is certain  
Author: anuminis  
Beta: by the wonderful **jayceepat** thank you!  
Rating: R for violent and cruel images  
Pairing/Characters: pre-slash Colby/Don, David, Nikki, Liz, Charlie  
Spoilers: None.

Summary: A series of murders shocks L.A. and brings the team to the brink of abyss of the human mind.

Note: This is the prologue to **Just Human**. Depending on what kind of feedback I get I will continue to write it, but it will take a while I'm not the fastest writer.

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**Death is certain**

_Chapter one – Prelude: Before the Storm_

It was 2 am in the morning as Colby rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He needed coffee, he thought as he drove his car through the streets of LA.

Though it was his day off Don had called him in; he needed all the help he could get on this new case.

Colby yawned and stopped at a coffee shop. He got out of his car and entered. A young man stood behind the counter reading a book, there was only one other customer at this time of night.

As the doorbell rang, the young man's head snapped up. He was alert until he saw the badge at Colby's hip and visibly relaxed.

"What can I do for you, Sir," he asked and smiled.

"Black coffee grande," Colby said and smiled back at the man named Joe according to his name tag.  
"And make it black; as black as you can get it."

Joe grinned and went to work. "Long night," he asked.

"No, I just got started." Colby glanced at the cover of the book. It was a first semester book about animal anatomy. "Want to become a veterinarian?"

"Yeah, I just love animals. My father is a vet, too. So it runs in the family. Do you want to add sugar?" He pointed at the sugar jar.

"No thanks." Colby shook his head but smiled. "I grew up in the country," he said as he reached for his wallet. "We had lots of dogs and cats; I even helped my grandpa with the birth of the calves. He had a farm, it's a good job. Good luck," he said and gave Joe five dollars. "Keep the change." He took his cup and waved goodbye.

"Thank you, Sir. Good luck to you, too." The doorbell rang again and Colby got in his Sedan. He sipped his coffee cautiously as he put the Sedan into gear and pulled back into the traffic heading for the San Diego Freeway.

After half an hour he left the freeway driving west on Ventura Boulevard; the streets became more and more empty as he drove on, the community of Encino lay silently before him only a few windows were lit.

He turned a corner; ahead at the end of the street he could already see the red and blue lights of the police and emergency cars. A patrol car was parked and an officer walked in front of Colby's car signaling him to stop; his hand was ready on his gun.

Colby stopped and opened his window; he moved slowly and showed his hands for the officer to see.

"Sorry Sir, but the street is closed. Please turn around and leave." He said it politely but with a steely edge in his voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I'm with the FBI," Colby said and slowly lifted his badge from his hip. The officer nodded.

"Sorry, Sir you can go ahead."

Putting his car back into gear he carefully drove on; he parked the Sedan in the next best spot and killed the engine. After the long drive his coffee was no longer hot. He hastily gulped it down and opened the car door. The damp, hot night air hit him like a wall after the cool interior of the car, but it smelled clean and fresh.

Colby made his way towards the center of the flashing lights observing his surroundings as he went. He didn't know much about the case. All Don had said was that it was a potential serial killer and that he needed his help. The crime had happened in Encino, a wealthy community outside down-town Los Angeles. Both sides of the street were lined with two story homes; their shocked and frightened owners standing in the doorways. It was clear that such an assembly of law enforcement wasn't often seen here.

Crossing another street Colby finally reached the center of all the buzzing activity. He could see several patrol cars and an ambulance, a white trailer was already in front of the two-story building; tents stood next to it and forensic agents in white overalls were busying themselves.

Don stood next to one of the tents where boxes of disposable overalls, gloves and boots had been set. He was talking to another man, probably the Detective who had requested the help of the FBI.

An officer lifted the yellow police tape for him and Colby walked under it towards Don, as he got nearer he caught the last part of the conversation.

"Make sure we get all the copies and evidence of the old case ASAP." Don said with a grim look on his face. The detective nodded and switched his cell open as he walked away to make the call.

"Hey Colb," Don greeted him as he turned around. "Thanks for coming in. I appreciate it."

"No problem," Colby said and ran a hand through his hair. "Fill me in." He suppressed a yawn.

Don just nodded and motioned him to follow him. They walked to the house and put on the latex gloves and disposable boots they had picked up at the tent, so they would not contaminate the crime scene.

"Two victims," Don started as he led Colby into the entrance hall.

The first thing Colby noticed was the metallic smell of blood.

"Sheila and Harvard O'Sullivan; the residents." He paused and walked towards the living room.

Colby noticed the many pictures of a good looking couple in their mid-thirties - and a golden retriever. It was unmistakably clear that the dog was like a child to his owners and now they were dead; Colby asked himself what would become of that dog.

The metallic stank that Colby had smelled as he entered the house was now overwhelming and nearly took his breath away. He gulped and stopped as he saw the sight before him.

"Butchered to death," was Don's bitter comment.

There was blood everywhere. On the walls, on the ceiling; there seemed to be no furniture without blood on it. Colby let his eyes drift over the scene trying to process what he saw.

The bodies lay on the couch covered with a white cotton sheet that was already soaked with blood; the coffee table had been moved to the side, where it once stood was another covered body.

"You said there were two victims," Colby asked confused.

Don took a deep breath. "Well – that's their dog."

Colby blinked and looked between Don and the covered body.

"That's also the reason why we're here," Don said. "Three month ago a couple was murdered, butchered to death. Multiple stab wounds and cuts, the dog was killed, too. At that time LAPD treated it as a normal homicide. Everything indicated it was a B&E gone very bad."

"The offender stole something?" Colby interrupted.

Don nodded. "Yeah, some jewelry and cash. They thought that the victims had interrupted the thief and were killed out of rage and the dog was just collateral damage."

"But now LAPD thinks that the dog is part of the killing," Colby asked.

Don sighed and nodded. "The MO is just too similar for it to be coincidence."

Colby's eyes drifted back towards the covered body of the dog. His question of what would become of him cruelly answered.

He could hear the forensic agents rummaging through the house busying themselves with dusting the surfaces for fingerprints and taking samples from the various blood splatters; the clicking of the cameras a constant noise in the background.

He stepped closer and knelt next to the dogs body, lifting the sheet to take a look.

What he saw had no resemblance to the golden retriever that he had seen in the framed pictures. Now it was nothing more than a chunk of bloody meat.

His stomach lurched and he took a deep breath to calm himself. The dog had been skinned; the eyes were stabbed. Hollow eye sockets looked back at him asking him why something like this had happened to him.

Colby closed his eyes, but the bloody skull with the empty eyes didn't vanish.

"You okay?" Don asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," Colby lied; Don said nothing. He put the sheet back and stood up; taking another deep breath he turned and faced him. "What can I do?"

Don snapped out of his own thoughts and nodded. "David and Nikki are questioning the neighbors. Liz is already looking into the old case. I want you to go and help her. Detective Simmons is sending every bit of evidence to headquarters."

" I'll look into cases of abused animals, too. Such a rage can't come from nothing, there has to be a history of violence against dogs or other animals." Colby had composed himself and was now determined.

"Good thinking. I will stay and see what we'll find here."

Colby walked past Don, their shoulders touched briefly, and headed back to his car. The hollow eyes still haunted him; they would for a long time he thought as he drove back to FBI headquarters.

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Don sighed and stared at the spot Colby had occupied few seconds ago.

It was clear that his agent hadn't taken the sight too well. The moment Colby lifted the sheet he'd gone white as one. For a split second Don had thought Colby might faint.

But then again Don knew that Colby would never let that happen, not in front of him – or anybody else for that matter. It was as if some part of Colby just simply refused to show any kind of vulnerability.

Ever since the Janus incident Colby's façade had become rocket proof.

And it concerned Don in a way he couldn't quite name; not only as his boss, but more as his friend.

"Sir?"

Don's head snapped up. "Yes," he answered automatically.

The young forensic agent in front of him looked nervous. "We think we found something. You should take a look!"

Don nodded his head and glanced briefly at the covered body of the dog.

"Lead the way."


	2. History of Violence

_Violence is man re-creating himself.  
-Albert Einstein_

Chapter two – A history of violence

Colby groaned and cracks his neck as he leaned back in his chair. What a way to start a day, he thought and looked at his flickering screen. He closed his eyes in disgust.  
Coffee and something to eat, he thought to himself that would distract him for a few minutes. Though he doubted that he could actually eat anything after all he'd seen so far.

"This world is sick," he muttered and rubbed his eyes.

"You're telling me!"

Colby jumped as he heard David's reply. He was so tired that he hadn't even noticed his return.

"Found something?"

Colby's head snapped towards Don who walked past him on his way to his own desk.

"Sick and disgusting things that'll last me for a lifetime," he answered.

"Is it connected to our case?" Don leaned exhausted against Colby's bullpen.

Colby shrugged. "If cruel and senseless acts of violence against dogs means so, then we have a problem."

Don hung his head. "Anyone want coffee?"

"Me." David raised his hand.

"I could use one," Colby said scrolling his screen down so he wouldn't see the bloody picture of the dead dog.

"'Kay" And with that Don made his way to the break room.

~*~

Don sighed as he walked towards the break room. He was tired and already sick of this case and judging by the hard lines around Colby's eyes the younger agent felt the same.

No wonder, Don thought; seeing all those cruel images would get to everyone – everyone sane that is.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee hit Don and he thank who ever put it on. He inhaled deeply. God he wouldn't know what to do with himself without the black liquid.

Grabbing three paper cups Don filled them and added some sugar for himself and Colby and milk for David. Wrenching them artistically between his hands he returned to the bullpens.

~*~

Colby turned towards David happy for any distraction. "So found something?"

"A headache," commented David and rubbed his temple to emphasize it.

"You can say that," Colby answered and gave David a lopsided grin. He could hear David hack away on his keyboard, but he waited patiently for him to answer.

David shook his head and cursed silently before he turned towards Colby. But before he could say anything Don returned with three cups of coffee wrenched between his hands. He offered the foremost to Colby who took it gratefully. Then he held one cup for David and indicated with his head towards the war room.

"You can tell us all," he said. "Detective Simmons and his partner have arrived." David nodded; he and Colby followed Don into the room where Nikki and Liz had setup photographs and reports from both cases. Detective Simmons and the other Detective stood in front of one of the tables waiting for them.

"Detectives," Don greeted them. David and Colby nodded they heads.

Colby took a sip from his coffee to distract himself from the gruesome pictures, he didn't know why they affected him so much, but it unnerved him. The hollow eyes of the dog flashed before him and he shuddered.

He took another sip and found to his surprise that the coffee was just the way he liked it; he glanced at Don who sipped his own coffee looking at the plasma screen.

"Okay," he suddenly started and Colby jumped a little bit. Don looked at Detective Simmons who nodded and started to fill them all in.

Colby frowned as he listened to what the Detective had to say.

According to him the first murder had taken place in Tarzana the community right next to Encino. The murdered couple, the Langstons, had been found in their house, stabbed to death; the dog had been killed too and was badly mutilated.

Unlike the recent victims the dog and the bodies were found in separate places of the house.  
There had been signs of forced entry, the backdoor was broken and some jewels and cash had been stolen. West Valley PD invested it as a B&E, but looked also into a possible homicide. The family background had been checked and all associated, too. Nothing came off of it and the fingerprints and DNA samples that had been collected at the crime scene showed no result. The culprit hadn't been in the system. It became an unsolved case like so many others – until now.

"The moment I entered the house I knew that it was the same guy," Simmons said. "Call it a hunch, but the way that dog was mutilated ringed my alarm bells."

Again Colby saw the skull flash before his inner eye, he couldn't help but shudder. His coffee was long gone and he missed the warmth that it had given him.

Simmons continued his story, he now told how the O'Sullivans had been discovered and that it had been pure luck that they had, because the O'Sullivans had been planning on going to Las Vegas for a vacation and weren't expected back for 2 weeks. A neighbor wanted to bring back a baking dish before the O'Sullivans left and so she discovered them after ringing the bell for several times finding the absent bark of the dog suspicious, because the light was still on.

"When was that exactly," Colby interrupted.

"Around 10 pm. Miss Henderson said she promised to give the backing dish back before they leave, but she had problems at work and stayed late. She didn't want to disturb them knowing that they wanted to leave early, but she saw that the light was still on and so she decided to give it back though it was already that late." Colby nodded and Simmons went on.

"The ME's preliminary estimate of TOD was 6 hours ago. This means 4 pm."

"And nobody saw anything?" Colby asked incredulous.

"No not really." Nikki said. "Nothing suspicious aside from the usual – postman, plumbers, craftsmen, cable guys."

"We're checking into them right now." Detective Rubers said. It was the first time the second Detective spoke up.

"There was one neighbor, Miss Fredrick, who said she saw a rusty old van parked two streets away. She said that she had never seen it before. Other neighbors confirmed this. However, no one remembered the license plate but it was registered in Long Beach. We put a BOLO on it," Rubers continued.

The team nodded, they knew that it would take a while before they would get a result out of that.

"Liz did you find anything the police might have overseen," Don asked with a apologetic look at the two officers. Liz pushed herself into a standing position.

"I've been through the files two times, but haven't found anything that would help us right now," she said. Don raised an eyebrow. "But I can go check them again," she continued and left the war room.

"David, Nikki anything to add to what the Detectives had to say?" Don trained his eyes on both his agent. David shook his head and Nikki glared at Don, as if she'd done something wrong and was punished by him.

"Nobody saw or heard anything," David said. "It's like we're hunting a ghost." He rubbed his temple. "I go and help Liz, LAPD is covering the rest right now. " He looked at the Detectives who nodded.

"Should we call Charlie? Maybe he can do some of his hocus-pocus?" Nikki looked at Don, at that moment the cell of Detective Simmons ringed.

"Simmons," the Detective said as he answered his phone; everyone looked at him.

"Yes, yes. I got that. Yeah thanks. Bye." He snapped his phone shut and looked towards Don.

"Long Beach PD has spotted the van, it pretty much fits the description it has a sticker on his bumper one of the neighbor remembered seeing. The license plate is," he grimaced. "GOV SUX. Don't know why people couldn't remember that," he said sarcastically.

While Detective Simmons talked to Don, Colby had sat himself at one of the computers and tipped in the registration. The machine searched a few seconds before it spit out a name. Colby pressed a button to bring it up on the main plasma.

"The vans registered to a Clive Owens, 39 resident in Molino Ave 3, Long Beach. He is a proud owner of a long police record," Colby said sarcastically bringing said record up on the plasma.

"Multiple charges for assault, illegal possession of firearms and drugs, dealing with drugs." Don whistled. "He's been in and out of prison for the last 20 years. Spend 5 years in California State Prison for assault with a knife. That's interesting."

"With that history of violence, it would be easy to commit a murder like that," Nikki stated. Everybody thought the same.

"I want a dossier on him, everything from where he went to school to what kind of bubble gum flavor he likes. ASAP." Nikki nodded and headed out to her desk to get started.

"If we're lucky this is our guy," Don said, but Colby doubted it, they were never that lucky.

"Colby go through the records, see if Owens is connected to one of your cases."

Colby just nodded and resign himself to his gruesome task.

The next couple of hours crept slowly by and by the time Nikki had gathered all she could get on Owens, Colby was ready to shoot somebody. Don supplied him with coffee though, but every time Colby wanted to thank him he'd already left.

As Nikki talked about what she'd found it became clearer and clearer that Owens had a controlling issue and a slightly psychopathic tendency. He was a ticking time bomb and even if he hadn't committed these horrific murders, he defiantly had something to hide.

"Vice is onto him but they couldn't find anything that would stick on him. They say we should be careful he's as paranoid as brutal. Word is out on the street that he operates mutable illegal drug labs and other establishments of questionable reputations," Simmons said. "It's been said that he runs a fight club where he frequently beats the hell out of other guys for his own pleasure and money."

Robin entered at that moment waving a white sheet in her right hand.

"I have the arrest warrant you wanted. The judge agreed that this Owens is shady and his van puts him at the crime scene." She smiled as she stepped near Don. Don snatched the paper out of her hand taking a closer look, blind for her seductive smile she was directing at him.  
"Okay people gear up we'll take this guy in for questioning and to search his house and car."

Everybody scrambled to their feet. Don addressed Simmons. "LAPD has the lead on this we're only supporting you." Simmons nodded. "I call SWAT."

Colby was on his way out, wanting to get out of the room as soon as possible, he didn't know why but he didn't like seeing Don and Robin together; especially when Robin had her lovy dovy eyes on display.

"Hey honey, got yourself another though case." He heard before he was out of ear shot.

He didn't saw or heard Don's reply; he didn't care or that was what he said to himself. His heart arched and he hated it, not knowing why.

~*~

An hour later Colby found himself in full gear kneeling behind a hydrangea on Owens backyard the blossoms where in full bloom and emitted a sweet smell that drew any kind of insects to it.

Colby drove a bussing fly away with his left hand, watching Don on the other side of the yard and listening to what he said over his earphone.

"Infrared shows activity in the house. Two people in the upper floor one downstairs. We move when SWAT is ready."

"Understood," Colby said in his micro listening for David's affirmation. He surveyed his surroundings again, running the operational plan through his head. The crackling of the radio snapped him to attention.

"LAPD in position. FBI?"

"We're clear," came Don's voice.

"Flash bangs being thrown in 3…2…1."

The clatter of broken glass could be heard, then a loud bang shocking the house to its core. Smoke blew out of the shattered windows cycling up into the blue sky.

"LAPD!" Was shouted, as the SWAT team entered the house in efficient movements.

Colby had sprung into action the moment the flash bangs had detonated. He kicked the back door in Don and David at his heels their M4 at the ready. Together they swarmed the premises, their flashlights cut thru the swirling smoke, shouting "Clear" if the room was unoccupied.

Colby threw a culprit to the ground as the fleeing man tried to escape the smoke and the SWAT team; he pointed his own UMP at him steadily.

"Don't move," he said in a commanding voice. The guy froze and whimpered seeing the determination in Colby's eyes.

Meanwhile Don and David had made it to the upper floor where the other two suspects had been located.

By the time Colby had handcuffed the guy SWAT came back down with the two men one of them Clive Owens who locked more them pissed.

Colby watched the man warily; he was cuffed behind his back but was still fighting the resistance. He was sweating like a bull one vein on his forehead throbbing profoundly. Don and David walked behind him and the other guy who looked like he might faint.

One of the SWAT officers gave Colby a thumps up and then all hell break loose.

With a sheer inhuman strength Owens blew of the cuffs freeing his hands and throwing both SWAT officers against the walls in the same movement. He grabbed the Sig of one them and took one officer hostage holding the man in a vicious choke hold.

"You'll never get me!" Owens screamed turning frantically around, the unconscious officer flew around like a rag doll.

Don and David who had been thrown off by one of the SWAT officers where momentarily stunned not able to react to anything that happened before them.

Without any warning Owens started to shoot. The body of one of the bad guys flew lifeless to the ground and Colby ducked his head instinctively he had his Glock out trying to get a clear shot at Owens.

As Owens pointed the gun at Don Colby had only seconds to decide. A single shot ripped through the chaos and Owens dropped dead on the floor a 9mm hole in the back of his head.

Seconds passed before everything that had happened sunk in, Colby shifted closer to Owens dead body, only a light tremor shock is pointed gun. He kicked the Sig away from Owens then looked at Don for reassurance.

Before Don could say anything SWAT officers swarmed in from all around them.

"What happened," Officer Brown wanted to know as he took the sight before him in.

"He broke free," Don said as he scrambled into a standing position. "Knocked us all out, took one of you as hostage," He nodded at the unconscious Officer that was now attended by one of his colleagues. Don watched Colby as he put back his Glock and left.

~*~

Don found Colby sitting on the curbside in front of the house. It had taken quite some time to get everything necessary moving, but now he needed to talk to his agent. He would have gone directly after him hadn't Brown insisted to talk to him.

"Here," he said as he sat next to him holding a bottle of water. Colby gave him a side glance but took it without question.

"How do you feel?" Don could feel Colby suppress an exasperated sigh; he bet that David would have asked him the same question already.

"I'm fine Don. Really," Colby added toying with the bottle.

Don run a hand through his hair. Of course Colby would say that, he thought. He wanted to shake him until he cracked. Don knew best how it was to kill somebody, even if it was a job requirement nobody would take it lightly, nobody would want it. Colby would be no exception.

He took a side glance taking in Colby's demeanor and appearance. He looked a good shade paler and occupied himself with playing with the bottle while he stared a hole in the asphalt. Don suspected that his hands would shake, if he hadn't had the bottle.

"You did good in there," he said to reassure him. Colby just grunted and Don suppressed to sigh himself.

"Don't worry about the IA. It was the right thing to do, if you hadn't take that shot someone else would have." He padded Colby on the back.

Colby nodded. "I just hope he's our guy."

"We'll see Colby. We'll see."


	3. Changes

_Chapter three – Changes_

"_What we are never changes. Who we are never stops changing."  
- Sofia Curtis, CSI Las Vegas_

The aftermath of the Owen incident was quick and painless – and left them with nothing.

Yes Owens had been near the crime scene, but it was pure coincident because one of his girlfriends lived in the neighborhood. As they came to question her they found one of Owens drug labs; who would have thought that the neighbors were shocked? They never suspected anything, she was such a nice women.

The IA cleared Colby without making a fuss.

Time went by and what little leads they had found ended in a dead end or went cold. Other cases kept them busy, but the board of victims stood resolutely in one of the war rooms reminding them of what waited out there biding its time.

***

Colby groaned and rubbed his eyes. It was late and Nikki and Liz had already left. He looked at his screen going over his report a last time before he hit print. He wanted to finish it so he could forget about it. Ever since the O'Sullivan's Colby had grew wearier with every case.

He got the printed pages and read over them again before putting them into a folder; he was so immersed in his thoughts that he jumped as Don's mobile went off.

"Epps," Don answered it.

Colby shook his head to clear his thoughts; he needed sleep. The only problem was that even though he got enough of it he never felt really rested. He made his way towards Don's desk to give him his report so he could go home, grab something to eat and try to sleep.

He watched Don as he spoke into his mobile not really listening to what he said. After Don had broken up with Robin he'd spent more and more time at work – again. A fact that both Charlie and his father found distressing. They both had hoped that Don would have finally found the right woman and settle down. There goes Alan's hope for grandchildren, Colby thought. More pressure on Charlie, he chuckled. Colby didn't really mind that Don had broken up with Robin; he'd told himself that it wasn't his business anyway and Don seemed fine, even happy.

"I'm on my way." Don stood up and Colby snapped back to attention.

"What's up," he asked giving Don the folder holding his report.

"LAPD got a hit on the prints from the Langston case. They have him in custody and Det. Simmons wants me to be there when they interrogate him."

Colby took a glance at his watch the display showed 11:04 p.m.

"Now," he asked and Don nodded.

"Simmons doesn't want to waste anymore time. Who knows what this guy's been up to for all this time."

Colby looked at his watch again, it was late and he was really tired, but he also wanted to know what this guy had to say, if it really was their guy at all. If so, he wanted to know who this man was that had killed his victims in such a gruesome way.

Something must have shown on his face.

"Do you want to come with me? We could grab something to eat and coffee on our way," Don said and gave him a small smile.

"Okay," he smiled back. "Just let me grab my jacket." He walked to his desk while Don made his way to the elevator. The doors slide open and Don entered waiting for Colby, together they rode down into the garage.

Don drove them to a Starbucks where they bought coffee and sandwiches before they continued on their way towards the LAPD office. At this time of night the building still buzzed with activity.

After eating their sandwiches they both grabbed their coffee cups and entered the building. Simmons awaited them at the front desk. They shook hands before Simmons walked them towards the interrogation rooms without much ado, telling them about their suspect.

"Sean Willis, 26. Unemployed. Was arrested for breaking and entering. He has no previous record. The officer who fed his prints into the system alarmed me right away that they matched 100% with the prints from the Langston crime scene."

Simmons opened a door and let them into a small semi-dark room with a large one way window and observation monitors. The view into the room next door showed a nervous looking young man sitting at a metal table.

Colby took his appearance in; he was clad in simple jeans and t-shirt who both looked in need of a good wash. It wasn't the only thing in need of water and soap. Sweat glistered on the grimy forehead, the bloodshot eyes darted anxiously around the room and his left leg was twitching violently. It was clear that the guy was detoxing, the motive for the B&E obvious to anyone who'd bother to look.

"Shall we?" Don nodded and Simmons gave the A/V tech a signal. Colby remained in the room watching the interrogation from a distance so he could judge Willis reaction better.

***

Don and Simmons left the observation room, before they walked into the interrogation room Simmons stopped them.

"How do you want to play this," he asked.

"You take the lead. I watch and only play the fed card, if we need it." Simmons nodded; he took a deep breath and opened the door. He stormed in and threw a folder on the table, Willis jumped and squealed; his eyes darted towards the detective who took a seat on one of the chairs. Willis gulped, sweat dropped into his eyes; he wiped it away with the hem of his shirt revealing a skinny belly with an unhealthy tint.

Don who had taken the less dramatic entrance closed the door with a loud snap. The head of Willis jerked towards him; his eyes widen slightly, they where a mirror of fear and panic. Ignoring him Don took his place in one of the corners.

"Sean, is it? Simmons tapped his finger rhythmically on the folder, drawing the attention of Willis back to him.

"Yes," the boy said nervously.

"You know why you're here?" Simmons took the folder and opened it.

"Yes, Sir," Willis said then changed his mind. "No, Sir."

Simmons lifted an eyebrow. "You were arrested, today, for Breaking and Entering," Simmons stated.

Willis gulped again.

***

Colby watched the interrogation unfold itself. Simmons did all the talking while Don merely stood ominously in one of the corners only saying something when directly addressed by Simmons.

The moment Simmons mentioned the murder of Lisa and Brian Langston Willis nearly fainted. He started to sweat like a pig, asking for a glass of water.

"I didn't kill anybody." He babbled on and on. The arrival of Willis attorney stopped the interrogation before it even really begun.

***

"What do you think," Don asked him as he stepped back into the observation room.

"I don't think it's our guy," Colby said simply. "Well not the one we're looking for. I think he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, made the wrong choice. Instead of calling the murder in he took the opportunity to steal the cash and jewels. He doesn't strike me as a blood thirsty psychopath only an opportunity thief. That night he chose the wrong house to break in. Our only hope is that he might have seen the killer."

Don nodded; he'd observed Sean from his corner and the moment Simmons had mentioned the murder he'd became as white as calk, but not in the way one would if he'd been discovered. Sean looked shocked and revolted and Don was sure, if they'd shown him pictured he would have thrown up and faint. Not the usual reaction from someone who had committed the murders in cold blood.

"What now," Colby asked trying to suppress a yawn but failed miserably.

Don looked at his watch it was past midnight, they both had already pulled a double shift and were dead on their feet. Even if Don didn't look like it he was tired and longed for his own bed; a thought Colby clearly shared with him.

"The attorney is not pleased with the way her client was threaded," Don sigh and refrained from rolling his eyes. "She'll inform us when we can talk to him again. So we might as well go get some rest."

"Good, good," Colby yawned again. "Sorry," he said.

"Don't be. C'mon let's go." Together they made their way back down to the entrance hall. Simmons accompanied them not saying much except that he would call them to tell when they could interrogate Willis again.

They said their goodbyes and Don drove Colby back to his car. Colby dosed of while Don steered the car through the streets of LA; he had to wake him as they reached the FBI garage where Colby's Sedan was parked.

"Hey," Don said as he gently nudged Colby's shoulder. Colby sigh but didn't wake up; he must have been really out of it, Don thought. Don looked at Colby, really looked at him and was taken aback at how young his agent looked. But even in his sleep Colby looked tense and worn out.

The last weeks and months had taken their toll on him and now Don realized how much. He made the decision then and there and started the engine again driving out of the garage and heading north for Colby's apartment. The drive took only a few minutes now that the streets were almost empty. He parked in second row leaving the hazard lights on and tried to wake Colby up again.

"Hey, buddy," he said and shook Colby's shoulder a little harder. Normally Colby would have snapped to attention in a split second, but now he slowly woke up, blinking sleep out of his eyes looking confused around the car.

At last he focused on Don. "What," he groaned; his voice was sleepy and rough and Don thought it sounded incredibly sexy.

"Finally," he said and smiled. "I thought I'd have to kiss you awake, sleeping beauty." It was still dark even with the orange glow from the street lights, but Don thought he saw Colby blush.

"Where are we," Colby asked still confused; he'd thought Don would bring him back to the FBI garage to fetch his car.

"I drove you home; couldn't have let you drive. You would have fallen asleep even before you made it out of the garage."

Now Colby did blush. "Sorry," he said and Don sigh. "Really stop saying that. It's no big deal."

"Okay," Colby answered too tired to argue back. He opened the car door and tried to get out of the car but forgot to unfasten his seatbelt. He slumped back and groaned. Don helped him open the belt and padded him on the knee.

"I'll come catch you at 10 am. Go sleep," he ordered with a smile.

Colby just nodded and got out of the car slamming the door shut. Don stayed until he saw Colby enter the elevator before he made his way to his own apartment which was only a block away.

***

As promised Don pulled the car at 10 am sharp in front of Colby's apartment. At the same time Colby walked out of the building. Punctuality was a virtue both men valued.

"Morning," Don greeted brightly the moment Colby's ass made contact with the seat. Colby screwed his face up.

"Why are you so cheerful," he rasped his voice still husky from sleep. It sends shivers down Don's spine. He shook his head to clear it before he answered.

"It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining brightly and I had excellent coffee." As if by magic, a large cup of coffee appeared before Colby who'd finished buckling himself in. He looked at it like a starving man then at Don who blinded him with a mega watt smile.

"Thanks," he mumbled and took a sip. It was perfect, exactly the way he liked it and he moaned blissfully almost pornographic.

Don tore his gaze from Colby's mouth and pulled out into the traffic which thankfully kept his thoughts away from his distracting agent.

They arrived a few minutes later together they took the elevator up into the bullpens. Liz and Nikki were already there working on their reports.

Don had barely sat down before his telephone ringed. "Epps." He answered it and Colby walked over, he had a hunch that it was Simmons.

"I'm on my way," Don said and hung up.

"Simmons," Colby asked. Don just nodded.

"Want me to come with you?" Don could handle it alone, but after seeing Willis Colby was curious what he had to say.

"Yes, come on. You can have your share, too," he grinned wryly.

To Liz he said. "We're gone for a couple of hours, if anything comes up call me."

***

A couple of hours turned into seven. The interrogation was long, painful and left them with empty hands.

Willis confessed to the B&E but denied any involvement in the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Langston. The moment he saw the first pool of blood he freaked and bailed. He swore on the grave of his not yet dead mother that it was all he'd done. The evidence supported him. Willis saw and heard nothing.

By the end of the interrogation Colby was frustrated and bone deep weary. They left the PD station without a new lead and headed back to the FBI headquarter.

Colby walked to his desk to write his report; if he hurried he could finish it and go home on time for a change.

Don appeared with a cup of coffee after an hour or so.

„Hey," he said. „It's been a long day why don't you come over to Charlie's with me. Dad's making dinner. You know you're always welcome." He smiled a little.

Colby looked at him. It was true it had been a long day. And truth be told he was hungry and Mr. Eppes was a great cook.

"Okay, thanks," he answered and smiled back. "Beats heated up leftovers anytime." He grinned.

"I hope so," Don said and grinned back. "I'll meet you there. Say 8 o'clock?"

"Sounds great."

"Good, bye then."

Colby watched Don leave before he wrapped his own report up. He grabbed his jacket and walked down the corridor towards the elevator hitting the button lightly. Somehow the prospect of dinner at the Eppes house made him feel happy despite the weary day he had. He just couldn't get rid of the smile on his face.

As Colby took the elevator down to the parking garage, he debated if he should stop at his place first to take a shower or not before heading to Pasadena. He looked at his watch as the doors slide open; he had plenty of time left, he only needed half an hour, tops, to get there.

A shower sounds great, he thought and with that he opened the door to his Sedan and drove off to his apartment. He reached it within 5 minutes and parked his car before he got out and walked into the building he was living in.

"Good evening, Sir," the security guard greeted him.

"Hi Nick," Colby greeted back, as he pushed the elevator button. "How's Mandy?"

"She's doing great the baby's fine and healthy. Mandy only complains that she looks like a walrus." The man grinned. "But to me she's the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Aw how sweet man, love must be something great," Colby answered and smiled sadly.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll get your share of the pie soon." Nick grinned encouraging and gave him the thumps up. It was their daily routine, well as often as they saw each other.

"Thanks man," Colby entered the elevator that had slide open behind him announcing its present with a ping and pushed the number four button on the panel. The doors slide shut and the elevator move upwards; Colby reached his apartment in no time; he put the key in his keyhole and opened the door.

His dark and quiet apartment opened up to him and he wished he had someone that would await him when he came back from work. He sighed and closed the door before he switched the light on and tossed his keys on the commode.

Shedding his jacket he put it on the coat-hook then moved into his bedroom and further on to his bathroom where he turned the shower on so that it had time to heat up. He returned to his bedroom and undressed himself putting his clothe into the hamper.

Colby let out a sigh of relieve as the hot water hit his body; he let the water wash away his tiredness before he stated to clean himself.

At last he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair and turned off the water. Grabbing a towel he dried his hair first before he wrapped it around his hip; he shaved and walked back into his bedroom to get dressed.

It took him only a couple of minutes before he headed back thru his door and down the elevator.

Colby wished Nick a good night and waved goodbye as he walked out of his apartment building. He nearly got run over by a car as he crossed the street to get to his own. The honk still ringed in his ear as he started it and pulled out into the traffic heading north east.

Nothing seemed to lessen his mood. It were evenings like this, meeting with friend and just having a good time he missed the most since he first arrived in Los Angeles.

That's why he was so thrilled to get there, Mr. Eppes good cooking just a great bonus. He wished that David was here with him in LA, but as it was he was at a conference in Houston.

Driving out of downtown Los Angeles at this time of day, a Friday no less, was an experience in itself. But eventually the further he got north the better it got and in no time the Eppes central, as they called it playfully, appeared before him.

Don's SUV was already parked in front of it next to Charlie's hideous Prius. He pulled his Sedan right behind it and killed the engine.

Darkness crept slowly over the city, a red glow brushed lightly over the trees and the roof of the house. It would be a clear night some stars already twinkled in the sky. Colby loved it to leave LA for a few hours the air out here was fresher and cleaner though not as clean as back in Idaho.

The lights coming out of the house was warm and welcoming and Colby felt a warm and tingling sensation in his stomach. It felt like coming back home after a long vacation.

He walked to the front door and rang the bell. A few seconds later it was opened revealing a smiling Charlie.

"Ah Colby come in. Don said you would be coming. It's good to have you here. Dad's thrilled to have another mouth to fill," he started to babble ushering Colby inside.

"Give me your jacket. It has been too long since your last visit Colby. You should come more often."

Colby gave him his jacket and smiled apologetically overwhelmed by Charlie's flood of words. Charlie put his jacket next to Don's and guided Colby into the living room. The table had already been set and a delicious smell wafted out of the kitchen.

Before he could say anything the kitchen door burst open and Alan walked through it a basket of freshly cut bread and a bowl of salad in both his hands.

"Ah Colby! Our guest of honor," Alan said as he saw Colby. "It's good to see you. I haven't seen you in a long time. You should come more often you know the door's always open for you."

"Thanks Mr. Eppes," Colby said slightly blushing.

"It's Alan for you." Alan corrected him with a smile.

"Alan." Colby said and smiled back.

"Hey Donnie! Get Colby a beer would you," Alan shouted over his shoulder. "Sit down; sit down the roast beef is almost ready." He put the basket and the bowel down on the table and patted Colby's back before vanishing into the kitchen. At the same time Don appeared out of it with three bottles of beer in his hand.

"Here you go," he said and gave one of them Colby who took it gratefully.

"Your father shouldn't make such a big deal out of it," he said flustered.

"Don't worry," Don said putting a hand on Colby's shoulder guiding him towards the table. Colby tensed as he felt the warm hand on his back, but let him be guided.

"Yeah don't worry. Dad's in his element now, he just loves to cook for other people," Charlie added taking a swing out of his beer. He walked towards the television that was turned in on ESPN and turned it off.

"Where's Amita," Colby asked as Don pushed him into a chair and sat next to him. "While she be eating with us?" He could tell by the numbers of the plates that she probably wouldn't but somehow Colby's gotten nervous, with so much attention he got from the Eppes men.

"No," Charlie answered taking another swing from his bottle. "She's at a conference in Philadelphia. She'll be back in two days," he said with a little less enthusiasm than before.

"Aw little bro's missing his girlfriend," Don teased, emphasizing 'girlfriend'. Why Charlie hadn't asked Amita to marry him yet was still beyond all of them.

"Oh shut up mister-afraid-to-commit-himself." Charlie shot back. It was now two month since Don broke up with Robin. They had separated in peace, realizing that it just didn't work between them. Robin had left LA shortly after that heading for NY to take a job in one of the prestigious attorney's offices.

"No fight today boy's. We have a special guest," Alan's voice came from the kitchen door. "Give me a hand will you," he said holding a pottery bowel on a wooden board. Charlie jumped to his aid; he placed his beer on the table, then took the bowel with the beef from his father and put it down on the table.

Don took another sip from his beer watching as Charlie disappeared into the kitchen.

Colby did the same he felt the alcohol slowly starting to sooth his nerves; he could feel the warmth eradiating from Don's body and it made him feel save and content.

They both kept quiet not knowing what to say not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

"So." The kitchen door burst open again and both Colby and Don jumped. Alan walked towards the table another bowel, this time mashed potatoes, in his hand. Charlie followed him with a saucier.

"Dig in," he said, as he and Charlie joint them at the table.

Soon the room was filled with talk and laughter; time went by and before Colby knew it three hours had past.

Colby was sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs with a cup of excellent coffee in his hand watching a game of hockey and listening to Charlie's endless rant about statistics.

He felt happy and comforted like he hadn't felt in a long time. It was fun watching Don and Charlie getting into a fights about hockey statistics. Colby was happy that he'd decided to come for dinner; it was better than to sit alone in his dark and cold apartment and brooding about the past.

Still he wished that David was here it would have been even more fun, also there were some moments where he was at a total loss and couldn't understand both Eppes brothers. David usually knew what to do in those moments.

Colby looked at his watch. It was time to leave, better to get some good night's rest; you never knew what'll await you tomorrow.

"I better be gone now or the boss gets cranky," he said lightly. Don snorted.

"Yeah, we don't want that," he said and grinned his mobile phone choose this moment to ring. Don frowned and took the call. "Yes, Eppes."

Colby watched Don's frown grow deeper. "Hm. Yes I'm on my way," he said and snapped the mobile shut.

Don looked at Colby, their eyes meet and Colby knew that instant there had been another murder.

"They have found another murdered couple, the dog is dead too," Don said and Colby nodded. "The scene is just a few streets away," Don continued in disbelieve.

"What?" Charlie and his father cried in union. Don ignored them grabbing his keys, gun and jacket moving out of the front door, Colby at his heels.

"Where exactly," he asked as he opened his car.

"It's a couple of streets north from here, Inverness Dr, just follow me," Don said and got into his car. The engine roared into life and Don drove back out of the driveway Colby followed him.

They headed north on the Linda Vista Ave. Both had turned on their blue lights and sirens speeding down the street. Colby concentrated on following Don who seemed to be determined to set a new speed record.

A shot sliced through the wail of the sirens and before Colby knew it his car got out of control.

He only perceived how the car dashed towards a tree his last thought, that doesn't happen right now. And then everything went black.


	4. What does not kill us

_Chapter four – What does not kill us_

_"What does not destroy me makes me stronger."  
-Friedrich Nietzsche_

"10-108"

Everything was silent around him.

"10-108. Officer DOWN!" Don screamed into his mobile.

"I need an ambulance!"

And everything came crashing back on him.

The siren still blared, a car escalated and speeded past them, horns honking, brakes squealing, people shouting – but the hissing of the demolished engine drowned them all out.

Don ran to Colby's car shouting the coordinates of the crash into his mobile. He shut it as he reached it seeing Colby hanging in his seatbelt. His heart dropped.

The airbag had detonated and hung limply from the steering wheel.

"Colby."

He shouted frantically as he tried to open the car door. Smoke soared steadily up from the hood and was gently blown away by the mild night wind.

"Colby!"

Don could smell the leaking gasoline; he needed to get Colby out of the car. The car door opened after the third attempt; the whole frame had been distorted.

"Colby can you hear me?" Don grabbed Colby's left hand trying to see if his agent was conscious. He heard a gasp and saw Colby slowly lifting his head up. Don sighed in relief.

"Can you feel your legs?"

"Yeah," Colby gasp. Thank God, Don thought.

"Where does it hurt?" He wanted nothing more than to hold Colby in his arms.

"Chest," Colby whispered and Don nearly missed it. Colby was closing his eyes.

"Hey stay with me buddy," Don said fearfully; he touched Colby's cheek to get his attention.

"'m fine." Colby said turning his head towards Don. Where was that damn ambulance!

"Can I help you, Sir" came a voice behind him.

Don turned around to see who was talking to him and saw a concerned face of a middle aged man, probably one of the residents.

"Yeah," he said. "You can help me move him out of the car. The gasoline is leaking." The man nodded.

"Colby," Don said turning back to his injured agent. "You think you can move," he asked concerned.

"Hm," came the answer and Colby started to move his upper body.

"Slowly," Don warned. The seatbelt held Colby in place and he hissed in anguish.

Don leaned over him trying to open the belt, but it wouldn't open, it was jammed.

"Do you have a knife or something? Something to cut the seatbelt," Don asked the man.

"Yes wait a moment," the man said and disappeared.

"Do you know what happened," Don asked Colby wanting to make sure he stayed awake.

"Heard a shot," Colby rasped. "Lost control of the car. Couldn't do anything." He closed his eyes in pain.

A patrol car arrived and an officer rushed towards Don.

"Everything okay?" The man asked.

"Here is the knife, Sir" came the voice of the resident.

"We need to get him out of the car." Don said towards the officer. "Thanks," he said to the man as he took the knife. With swift movements he cut thru the seatbelt.

"Can you move your legs now," Don asked Colby. Colby's breath was shallow but he moved his legs out of the car, turning sideways.

"Careful buddy," Don didn't know where to put his hand to help him he didn't want to hurt Colby more than he already was.

Colby grunted and Don snapped out of it, they made it out of the car with a little help and walked away from it, the sirens of an approaching fire truck could be heard in the distance.

The helpful man had stretched out a blanket on the asphalt on which Colby, with the help of Don and the officer, collapsed. Don spread another blanket over his injured agent to keep him warm.

"You okay?" Don was anxious.

"Hm." Was Colby's only response.

"Look at me, Colb," Don said, afraid to let him slip into unconsciousness.

Colby's eyes fluttered open and Don could see that they were clear. He sighed and willed himself to stay calm, it would do no good, if he got overly excited. Colby took this crash far better than he did.

"Sir, how is he," the police officer asked concerned.

"I'll live," Colby answered for himself.

"What happened?" The officer wanted to know, now that he had Don's attention.

"Don't know. We were heading for a crime scene, and then I saw Colby's car swerve and crash in my rear view mirror." It was hard for Don to make his voice firm, just to think about that moment, the feelings he had made him want to crack.

"I heard a gunshot," Colby added; he sounded tired.

At that moment a scream pierced through the wail of all the sirens.

"Help! Somebody help!"

The officer responded immediately; hand on his gun, looking around trying to find the source of the yells.

Don was torn between his need to stay with Colby and his sense of duty. The ambulance had arrived and two paramedics rushed towards Colby.

"You are going to be all right?" Don wanted to know.

"Hm," grunted Colby who had closed his eyes again.

"Colby look at me." His eyes snapped open.

"You are going to be okay." It was no question.

"Yes I will."

***

Fire.

His whole body was on fire.

He smelled the gasoline first. He was back in Afghanistan jammed under the Humvee. The metal monster was pressing down on his chest making it hard for him to breathe.

Breathe, he thought, breathe. Slowly he came to. The dust of the airbags swirled around him.

He breathed; it was the only thing he could think right now. It ached badly.

"Colby."

He didn't register it at first.

"Colby!"

Someone was trying to open the car door.

Breathe. His chest was so heavy.

Slowly the memory of what had happened flooded back. He crashed his car; he couldn't believe that it had happened to him. It felt so unreal, but the pain wasn't. It was real very, very real.

"Colby can you hear me?"

That was Don's voice, he sounded frantic almost frightened. Someone grabbed his hand and he remembered to answer Don, but he hadn't enough air to form any kind of word.

He rasped and slowly lifted his head. He looked around trying to see the damage that the car had sustained. The windshield was cracked, multiple spider webs spread across it. The whole dashboard was distorted and the radio was hanging lose from its cables. He looked through the windshield and saw that the hood had wrapped itself around the tree on the passenger side.

"Can you feel your legs?"

Colby thought about it, processing the question Don had asked him. He wiggled his toes and moved his feet a short way. "Yeah," he wheezed and heard Don sigh in relief. He hadn't thought of that possibility he was concentrating on just breathing.

"Where does it hurt?"

He didn't need to think about that. "Chest," he whispered he hadn't enough strength to say it louder. God he felt so tired and his eyelids slide shut out on their own.

"Hey stay with me buddy." He felt Don's warm hand on his cheek and he opened them again turning his head towards Don.

"'m fine." He could see that Don didn't believe him. He didn't believe it himself the gasoline smell reminded him of his accident in Afghanistan. He watched the rising smoke from the hood barely noticing that another man had approached the car.

"Colby. You think you can move?"

The smoke rose slowly, hypnotic, and the gasoline smell was overwhelming. Pictures of the burning Humvee flashed before his eyes; he wanted to get out of the car before the memories would overpower him.

"Hm," was all he could say, as he moved his body. But he forgot about the seatbelt that still held his body in place. It pressed itself into his chest sending a flash of searing pain through his body. He hissed barely hearing Don's concerned voice.

"Slowly." Don's voice warned him.

Colby leaned back into the seat closing his eyes; he smelled Don's aftershave and felt his body heat as he leaned over him trying to open the belt. Don cursed and spoke to another man.

"Do you have a knife or something? Something to cut the seatbelt?"

Colby moved his right hand to the fastener trying to open the belt himself, but it wouldn't budge.

"Do you know what happened?"

Colby focused his eyes on a bush before him. He thought about it. What had happened? All he remembered was hearing a gunshot before he lost control of his car; he said so.

"Heard a shot." His voice sounded weak even to his own ears and he took another breath. It hurt.  
"The car swerved, couldn't do anything," Colby wheezed remembering how the car got out of control. He closed his eyes as a surge of pain shot through his body; he didn't notice that a police officer had arrived.

The feeling of hands snapped him to attention; Don was cutting his seatbelt with a knife.

"Can you move your legs now?"

Colby concentrated. He breathed in and out. His whole body ached but now he felt a heavy numbness settle in. No pain stood out because everything hurt and he was tired and just wanted to get good painkillers so he could sleep. He moved his legs sideway out of the open door.

"Careful buddy," he heard Don's concerned voice. Colby looked at him and saw hesitation in his eyes, his hands hovering over Colby's.

That's not what I need right now, Colby thought and grunted in pain. Don snapped out of his stupor and helped him move slowly out of the car, a police officer helped him, too.

Together they made it to a blanket that was spread out on the street. The short walk had exhausted him and he collapsed on it. Don covered him with another one, just now he noticed that he was freezing.

"You okay?" Don sounded anxious and helpless and Colby hated it.

"Hm."

"Look at me, Colb."

Hearing the nickname made Colby feel funny, he probably would have felt butterflies in his stomach, if the pain in his whole body hadn't been so overwhelming.

Colby willed his eyes to open and looked at Don; there he saw fear, anxiety and insecurity. He wanted to reassure him that it was okay, that he was still alive. But he was so damn tired and the pain made him feel numb.

A shadow hovered behind Don. "How is he?" The police officer asked.

Don hesitated. "I'll live," Colby heard himself say; and that was true. He'd survived worse things; he would live through this too.

"What happened?"

That Colby wanted to know, too. But not now, now he only wanted to sleep and have the pain go away. He hadn't even felt that much pain as he was tortured by Lancer.

He missed the first part of Don's explanation.

" I saw Colby's car swerve and crash in my rear view mirror."

Colby remembered this part vividly, like a filmstrip; he'd seen it enough times in TV shows and movies, that it felt more than surreal. But the trigger of this accident was probably the shot, if there was any, he started to doubt himself.

"I heard a gunshot." To voice it again would make it feel more real. Then he heard a scream.

His eyes had closed again he wanted so badly to sleep, but he knew that Don wouldn't let him until everything was okay.

"Help! Somebody help."

Go, Colby thought, he could feel that Don hesitated.

"You are going to be all right?" Don sounded uncertain.

"Hm," Colby grunted, he really didn't like this side of Don.

"Colby look at me." This time Don's voice was stronger, certain.

Colby snapped his eyes open and looked into Don's.

"You are going to be okay," Don said. It was no question. Colby's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes I will," he answered.

With that Don moved letting the paramedics take care of him. Colby watched Don following the police officer before the face of a friendly looking man appeared before him.

"Hi," the man said. "My name's Tim. What's your name," Tim asked.

"Colby," he answered tiredly.

"What happened," Tim asked grabbing his penlight and shining it into Colby's eyes.

"Car got outta control. Crashed," Colby managed to say wincing as the light hit his eyes.

"Pupils are dilated and react slowly. Breathe is shallow." Tim said to his partner. "This is Sam, he's going to take your blood pressure," Tim said turning back to Colby.

"How fast were you going?" Tim asked over the voices of the arriving fire fighters.

"Gas is leaking! Disconnect the battery." Colby could hear.

He thought back, how fast had he been going? "Sixty?" Colby guessed and heard Tim whistle under his breath. Sam put the cuff over his right arm and started to take his vitals.

"We need to put a neck brace on you. Did you move out of the car by yourself?"

"Yeah with a little help," Colby answered.

"Good, but we still need to, just to be sure. We're also going to put you into a vacuum mattress," Tim explained to Colby.

"Blood pressure is down 45 to 70 pulse 64," Sam said before a fire fighter appeared behind him bending down so he could speak to Colby.

"How are you," he asked concerned.

"Fine," Colby said automatically.

"That was a hell of a crash," he said. "What happened?"

Colby started to hate that question. Why ask him wasn't it obvious? Why couldn't they just give him some good drugs and let him sleep? But he knew they were just doing their jobs.

"Lost control, the tree was in my way," he gasped.

"I'm putting the brace on you now," Tim interrupted any reply the fire fighter might have. Colby felt his head being lifted gently and his neck squeezed into the brace. He knew then and there that he was going to hate this thing.

"Get the scoop stretcher," Tim ordered his colleague. The clatter of the stretcher was heard shortly after wards.

"Colby," Tim said. "You have to tell me where it hurts exactly. Don't withhold anything because you think it's nothing. Do you understand me?" Tim sounded serious.

Colby would have nodded but the brace kept him from doing so. "Chest," he said instead and motioned with his right hand where exactly.

"Here?" Dean pushed at the area and Colby hissed.

"Yeah," he said thru clenched teeth.

"That's to be expected. On a scale of one to ten how would you rate the pain?"

Colby thought about it; he knew about the pain scale.

"A five maybe a six?" He was a man who suffered in silence not giving much away about how he felt and certainly not asking for any help. For most people the pain he was in right now would have been at least an 8.

"Okay anywhere else?"

Colby shook his head as much as the brace allowed.

"Really?" Tim pushed.

"Yeah." Right now nothing hurt more than the area where the seat belt had pressed itself into Colby's flesh.

"Okay, but you tell us if anything else hurts!" Tim practically ordered Colby.

"Hm," Colby responded and closed his eyes; he wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"We're putting you on the vacuum mattress; that will help to hold you still for the transport," Tim said. "We'll need your help could you roll over please?" He put a little pressure on Colby's left shoulder to indicate on which side he should move.

Colby just grunted and rolled over while the strong arms of Sam kept him in place. Tim put the mattress under him. "Okay now the other side." He was rolled over and Sam pulled the mattress under him into the right place.

As soon as the mattress was in position he felt it going stiff keeping him in place. He relaxed immediately.

The same procedure was applied with the scoop stretcher and before he knew it he was lifted onto the real stretcher and pushed into the ambulance.

The bright fluorescent light was a stark contrast to the semi darkness he had been in and he shut his eyes tight.

"Have you any medical condition? Do you take any drugs or medication," Tim asked.

"No," Colby answered.

"Are you allergic to any medication?"

"No not that I'm aware of."

"Okay, I'm going to put an IV into your arm. I'll give you a saline infusion to help with your blood pressure. The good drug will have to wait," Tim said as he tied a stricture around Colby's arm to find a suitable vein.

Colby closed his eyes and let them work he hardly felt the insertion and before he knew it he felt the sensation of liquid pushed into his system. It was an odd kind of pressure he would never get use to. Meanwhile Sam had put a pulse oximeter on his right index finger to monitor his blood oxygen.

"I'm his boss I want to see him," a voice wafted into the ambulance thru the open doors.

Colby tried to see where Don was but he was forced by the brace and mattress to pretty much stare at the roof of the wagon.

Don's face appeared over him, concern lining his face.

"How is he," he asked one of the paramedics.

"Stable for transportation," Sam said.

Don nodded and Colby closed his eyes again feeling tired and exhausted as he had never felt in his life before.

"We're bringing him into Huntington Hospital," Tim said reading Don's mind.

"Okay," Don said putting a hand on Colby's shoulder and squeezed. "I'll see you there."

Colby hardly responded just murmuring something. Right now he was barely conscious, the pain finally taking his toll.

Don left the ambulance and shortly after that Colby was rushed towards Huntington Hospital.

***

After he heard Colby's answer Don followed the police officer with a lighter heart. Soon they found a woman shaking and with blood all over her stumbling out of one of the residences.

"Ma'am you all right," the police officer wanted to know, his hand on his gun. He closed the distance with caution. The woman didn't respond just dropped on the porch crying; her face was by now smeared with tears, blood and snot. It was clear that she was in shock. The officer turned towards Don who nodded; together they entered the house with drawn weapons ; by then another police officer had arrived and joined them.

The circles of the flash lights bobbed around in the dark rooms before they halted on a lifeless form. They got closer and saw that it was the body of a man.

The police officer who had been with Don, reached for his radio, while Don and the other officer continued to search the premises.

"Dispatch this is Officer Parker 'TABC'. We have a 187 request back up. The location is Inverness Dr Nr 86; I repeat a 187 request back up." The radio crackled and the voice of a woman replied.

"This is dispatch. Back up is on its way."

Meanwhile Don had cleared all the lower rooms while the other officer had went upstairs.

"All clear," he said and switched the light on using a handkerchief. Parker nodded and looked down at the dead body. Don stepped closer analyzing the scene before him. The man was spread-eagled on the floor a pool of blood under him. Blood still oozed out of the wound in his neck.

Don saw the events that had happened here before his inner eye; the man must have stood with his back towards the window as the killer shot him. He moved towards that wall taking a closer look; cautious not to touch or disturb anything.

" I'll go check on the woman," Parker said and headed out to the hall where he met the other officer who said that all rooms upstairs were clear. "Okay secure the crime scene," Parker said and both men left Don alone.

Don scanned the wall for bullet holes and found one on the left side of the windowsill. The bullet must have gone right through the wall and hit Colby's tire, Don thought and sighed. That had to be the worst luck in the world. He left the scene in search of Officer Parker to talk to him and found him near the shocked woman that was now attended by another paramedic and one of the neighbors.

Taking the office aside, Don told him that he would stay until the CSI's arrived to take his shoe prints and an officer his statement, but now he wanted to check on Colby. Parker just nodded.

Don made his way to the ambulance muddling the events over in his head. Other officers had arrived swarming the premises, regulating the traffic and other things; one lifted the yellow tape for him.

With renewed dread Don walked closer to the emergency vehicle but a bulky looking police officer blocked his way.

Don showed his ID. "I'm his boss I want to see him." The cop nodded and let him pass by.

He stepped into the rectangular light of the open ambulance door and needed to shut his eyes. The florescent light hurt him after the semi darkness. Taking a deep breath he climbed into it.

"How is he," Don asked the paramedic, while looking at Colby. His agent seemed looked tired and exhausted no wonder after what had happened.

"Stable for transportation," the paramedic said.

Colby had his eyes closed and was on the verge of sleep. Don sighed he wanted to know where they would take him and looked at the paramedic, but before he could formulate his question he got an answer.

"We're bringing him into Huntington Hospital," the paramedic said, as if he knew what Don had wanted to ask.

"Okay," Don said and gave in to his need of touching Colby. His shoulder felt warm, but there was an underlying tension in it. He squeezed it to reassure Colby, but more so himself that his young agent – his friend was still alive and breathing. He never wanted to see him dead like he had the last time on that freighter. That was an image that still haunted him at night.

"I'll see you there."

He waited for Colby to say something, but all he got was a mumble; Colby was too exhausted to speak. Don left the ambulance and the door was closed behind him; he stepped away to give them space.

The motor roared to life and the sirens came alive, too. The ambulance escalated and was out of sight within seconds although Don could still hear the screeching siren.

He looked after it then turned when he could no longer see them. As he saw the wreck of Colby's Sedan a memory was triggered. There had been a single escalating car while all the others had hit the brakes.

Damn it, he thought, the culprit must have used the chaos to escape. He looked down the street, but it was no good the tire marks were by now destroyed.

He made a mental note to mention it to one of the investigating detectives, also to check in Colby's burst tire for the bullet.

Don cursed, why he invested so much time thinking about this case when he should be at his own was beyond him. But he needed to make sure that Colby really was okay, a little voice was nagging at him that Colby might look fine from the outside but was bleeding internally to death; he shuddered.

No he would not go there; he thought and fished for his mobile. He flipped it opened and automatically pressed the speed dial for David's mobile phone. Then he remembered that David was at a conference in Houston, but before he could disconnect the call David answered it.

"Sinclair," came the tired and sleepy voice thru the speaker.

Damn it, Don cursed silently. "Sorry David, I got the wrong number go back to sleep." He apologized.

"What's wrong," David prompted.

"Nothing's wrong," Don answered defensively.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You sound worried and anxious. So spill it."

Don sighed he should know better; David had worked with him the longest and could read him pretty good. "Nothing really, it's just case related," he tried nonetheless.

"What case? Don't say our butcher is back." David sounded irritated and stifled a yawn.

"Yes he is," Don said and rubbed his temple.

"But that's not why you're getting a headache, right?" David knew him all too well. "Don please, just say it. Did something happen to Colby?" And now Don could hear the concern in David's voice.

"He had a car accident." Don could hear David draw in a sharp breath.

"How is he," David asked a light tremor in his voice now.

"Don't know; he has no superficial wounds aside from a good collection of bruising, but it looks like he has a few broken ribs." He could hear David flinch. "But I don't know about any internal bleeding; they're taking him into the hospital right now" Don said staring at a spot on the asphalt.

"What happened," David asked and moved to stand up, Don could hear the rustling of sheets.

He took a deep breath. "Don't know either," he admitted weakly. "We were heading for the crime scene when it happened. It looks like a stray bullet had hit Colby's tire and he crashed into a tree." The image flashed vividly before his inner eye and he shuddered.

"Damn it," David cursed.

Don changed the topic. "When will you be back?"

"Not before another two days," David spit angrily. Don knew that David cared as much as he did about Colby and felt powerless, not able to be with him and give him support.

"Colby's a fighter you and I know this better that anyone else. He'll pull through don't worry. You stay there, this is important for you David. Colby would kill you, if he knew you would cancel your lecture because of him."

David sighed. There was a moment of silence before David spoke up again.

"I know," he said resigned. "I'll stay, but you have to call me, if anything important comes up. Promise me that, Don." David practically pleaded.

"Don't worry I will. You'll be the first one to know, if anything happens," Don said honestly.

"Good," David answered reluctant to hang up.

"Good," Don said. "See you when you get back."

"'Kay, bye."

"Bye," and with that he snapped his mobile shut only to flick it back open. He punched another number in and waited.

"Liz the butcher is back."


	5. Mind of Man

_"Not Chaos, not the darkest pit of lowest Erebus, nor aught of blinder vacancy, scooped out by help of dreams - can breed such fear and awe as fall upon us often when we look into our Minds, into the Mind of Man."  
-William Wordsworth_

Don was tired, bone deep tired, as he left the scene of the accident.

As he had promised he had waited for the CIU to arrive. His statement was given and an overly cheerful forensic agent took his boot prints so that the investigators could distinguish them from others at the scene.

Now he was heading for the hospital hoping that Colby was alright. The drive was short, but to Don it felt like hours; to find a parking spot took even more time. As Don walked towards the entrance his mobile rang. Resigned he took the call.

"Eppes."

"Don."

It was Liz. "It's worse," she said shakily. She sounded as if she tried to regain her composure again. He sighs; he couldn't imagine what the scene must look like. The last was gruesome enough; Don had had a hard time keeping his dinner down.

"I'll be there in an hour or so. I just arrived at the hospital." He heard Liz sigh weary. The first time he told her what had happened she thought he wanted to kid her.

"Right. Say hi from me and get well soon."

"I will. Thanks." She knew for what.

"No problem. Bye."

Don continued his way; he hesitated as he entered the hospital and approached the nurse station. Don showed his badge as he caught one of the nurses attention.

"One of my agent was brought here," he smiled it came automatically. "He had a car accident. Could you tell me where he is?" the nurse, Sally, smiled reassuringly at him. "What's his name?"

"Colby Granger," Don said. Sally tipped the information in her computer.

"He's been brought into the emergency surgery for observation. You have to report to the nurse station there, if you want to know more."

Don thanked her and walked towards the elevator row. The emergency surgery was on the fourth floor so he pushed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive.

***

Colby spent the ride to the hospital in a fitful dose. Every bump in the street, every curve taken in high speed sent waves of numb pain through his body. But in no time was he unloaded and rolled into the ER of the hospital.

"Car accident, no signs of external trauma…," the rest of the sentence was lost on Colby he barely noticed what happened around him, as he was move from one machine to another. Someone finally, mercifully, had given him the good drugs. The burn of the injection traveled up his arm before it vanished taking the rest of the pain with it.

On the way to the CT scan some nurse stripped him of his clothes leaving him in nothing but his underwear; Colby didn't care.

He woke as someone showed a light pen into his eye before the person fiddled with his IV and started to take his BP. The room was dark around him and quiet, the only light came from the doorway shadowing the nurse who took his vitals.

Bleary he took a look around confused where he was and why he couldn't move his head. Slowly the memories returned so did the throbbing pain that had taken resident in his chest.

The nurse noticed that he was awake.

"Shh. It's alright," she said soothingly. "You're in the Huntington hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

Colby blinked processing the question. He became aware of the very tight neck brace he was wearing keeping his head in place; that explained why he couldn't move his head, he thought wryly. The skin itched under it and Colby wanted to scratch himself, but hadn't the willpower to move any part of his body.

"Yeah, had a car accident," he groaned not only from the thought that he'd crashed his car.

"That's right," she said gently. "You've been lucky. You only got four broken ribs and a couple of bruises." She noticed his discomfort with the neck brace; how she did it in the near darkness without Colby showing or doing anything about it was beyond him. Must be some special nurse spider senses, Colby mused.

"I'm sorry but you have to wear it a bit longer until the doctor says that it can come off. " She smiled.

"What time is it," Colby wanted to know, he was already weary of the hospital.

"Oh it's 3 am in the morning. You were sleeping when you were brought in here."

What the fuck, Colby thought and moaned. He slept only an hour; he'd looked at the clock in one of the exam rooms.

"How is the pain?" The nurse asked interpreting his discomfort wrong.

"It's okay. My chest hurts only a little," he said in a small voice.

"How little is little," the nurse asked pursing her lips and fixing him with a special nurse stare, the one that said "Bullshit." She knew this kind of patient, mostly cops that were too stubborn to admit it that they were in real pain.

Colby smiled sheepishly or he tried to. "Okay it hurts a bit more than I'm comfortable with," he admitted.

The nurse tutted, actually tutted, before she gave him a higher dosage of the pain medication.

"Aside from the pain in your chest. How do you feel? Dizzy. Nausea?"

"No," Colby said though his stomach didn't feel so peachy; he tried to shake his head but the brace kept him in place.

"You're sure?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes, maybe a little thirsty," he said to keep her occupied.

"Of course," she said and left his side to go get something for him to drink. She returned with a feeding cup and a plate of zwieback. "This is chamomile tea, it's good for your stomach," she said knowingly.

Busted.

"And you should eat something, too."

Colby took a hesitant sip from the cup, then another one before his will to move left him again.

"I leave it on the bedside table, so if you want more just call me," she pressed a button in his hand and padded it lightly. "I'll be checking on you every hour. Please don't hesitate, if you need something." She turned and walked away. "Ah," she stopped as she remembered something. "There is a gentleman that wants to see you, said he was your boss. I told him that you were still asleep. Should I send him away?"

Colby stomach went haywire at the thought that Don was here to see him.

"No," he croaked. "He can come in."

He closed his eyes and dose off. He woke to the feeling of a hand running through his hair; it felt like that anyway.

"Hey," Don whispered as he saw Colby coming through. The feeling of the caress stopped and Colby missed it instantly.

"How do you feel," Don asked softly.

Colby sighed; he hated that question with a passion. "Like I've been run over by a horde of elephants."

Don chuckled humorless. "You gave me almost a heart attack." Don put a hand on Colby's shoulder and squeezed lightly. Colby's breathe hitched as pain shoot through his body.

"Sorry," Don said his hand snapped away like it was burned.

"'S okay," Colby wheezed taking short hitched breaths to get the pain under control. His broken ribs made them self painfully aware he couldn't breathe normal couldn't roll himself into a tiny ball; his back was killing him already.

"You're in pain." Don stated the obvious. "Should I call the nurse?"

"No. I'm fine."

Don fixed him with a stare.

"No. I'm not," he admitted in defeat and pressed the button. A moment later the nurse appeared.

"What is it?"

"He's in pain," Don answered for him.

She purses her lips but said nothing only increase his dosage. Then she fixed Don with a stare of her own.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the patient needs to rest. You can visit him again during the normal visiting hours."

Don glanced at Colby how had drifted off again then nodded. "Please call me if anything happens. His family lives in Idaho. I'll call them first thing in the morning, but I don't know if they'll be able to come" he said and gave her his card. With another glance he left Colby to the dark and quiet of his room.

***

Don left the hospital still feeling tired and weary; seeing Colby had lifted his mood only factually, but the prospect of seeing another cruel murder pushed it down even more. He wished he could just crawl into his bed and sleep for the rest of the week pretending that everything was just fine.

But he couldn't afford this luxury; if he'd wanted an easy job where he could pretend that everything was alright, he should have stayed in the Minor League.

He climbed into his car and drove off towards the crime scene dreading what would await him there.

The streets were empty and silent. The normal people with their normal life's had retreated into their homes, into their bets, where they could dream about their children growing up sheltered and safely marrying and getting kids of their own.

But for that to happen, Don had to do his job.

He was proud of doing it even when it meant going through rough times where every normal man would have broken a long time ago.

As he drove past the crash scene a flash of memories washed over him so painful that he had to slow down or he would have crashed himself.

Get a grip, Don chided himself and drove on. Not long after that he reached the crime scene; an officer waved him trough and Don parked his car next to Liz' black SUV.

The crime scene was buzzing; forensic agents clad in white overalls were everywhere doing what needed to be done. Liz stood next to the evident trailer talking to one of the agents; as he walked closer he saw that she still looked pale and shaken.

"How is Colby," Liz asked the moment she noticed him.

"Good, he's good. Got lucky has only four broken ribs." Liz winced. "Could have been worse," Don said. "You should see his car." He tried to suppress a shudder but failed.

"So what've we got?"

Liz crushed up her face. "You have to see for yourself. It's…" She failed for the right words. "Be prepared to throw up. Almost all the guys who went in there did," she warned him.

Don just nodded and walked to the tent to get a set of disposable cloths. He entered the house and gagged, the smell of iron was overwhelming. Don followed the line of yellow evidence markers into the living room and stopped so abrupt as if someone has punched him in the guts. He turned around and ran outside; he sought the nearest bush and threw up hard, the emotional trauma finally caching up with him.

God he couldn't remember when last he'd thrown up on the job. His body shook violently with dry heaves and cold sweat broke out on his skin. He took several deep breaths to calm him down and swept a shaking hand over his face to wipe away the sweat.

What lay there in the living room, it didn't look even remotely human. A pulp of blood and flesh and bones. He'd really thought he had seen anything a human could inflict on another human.

He was wrong.

The butcher had crossed the line; it was no longer calculated. It was anger and wraith and lust.

Beasts killed to survive.

The butcher killed to destroy his victims in every sense of the word with precise slices of hardened steel.

A warm hand rubbed soothing circles on his back. Liz said nothing as Don straightened up, she only gave him a towel and a bottle of water to rinse his mouth with.

***

Don said on the curbside near the evidence trailer drinking a cup of coffee, or at least he tried to. The warmth seeped into his hands reminding him of Colby's warm skin; some of the weight lifted from his shoulder as he thought of the younger man. But he had to concentrate, they had to solve this case and they needed help. The motivation of the culprit was unique and unsettling; it had gone beyond the stage where Charlie's math would or could help them.

Their needed a real profiler. In times like these he felt the loss of Megan harder then usual. He sighs and stared into his cup watching the hot steam rising gently into the cold California night mesmerized.

Someone sat beside him; he turned towards the sudden heat seeing Liz watching him closely.

"Are you okay," she asked carefully. Don took a deep breath and nodded.

"It's just … first the accident with Colby and then this. It was too much I guess. I'm getting old," he said and chuckled humorless his mouth twisted in a loop side smile.

"No you don't," she said with a small smile of her own bumping her shoulder against Don's.

"Look no one things you're weak or old, they would all be hypocrites." She changed the subject.

"I called Nikki back. She was apparently on a hot date with Ian in the wild and romantic hills of the Sierra Nevada. It will take a while, but she will be here in the morning bringing Ian back with her. Maybe he can help us a little."

Don nodded. Ian's help would be great, still.

"How fare is the CIU?"

"They say it will take a while to process the whole scene. There are so much blood splatters to process its driving them nuts. They had to call in back up to get it all done.

"Detective Simmons?"

"Questioning the neighbors. Should be over there." She pointed at the house across from them. The door opened in that moment and a dark figure appeared in the frame. Don lifted himself up groaning as he felt his knees pop. Liz followed somewhat more gracefully. Together they crossed the street and intercepted the tired looking Detective as he made his way towards the next house.

"Detective Simmons," Don said and the detective turned and looked at them taking in Don's appearance.

"You look like shit Eppes, " he stated matter-of-factly.

"Take a look into a mirror," Don replied good-naturedly.

"Yeah well it's a shitty night." The other man said tiredly.

"You can say that," Don mumbled as his thoughts strayed towards Colby sitting limp in the crashed car.

"I heard about your agent. He's going to be all right," Simmons asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, luckily he just has a couple of broken ribs. But let's talk about the case."

Simmons sighs and motions with a flicker of his hand for Don to go on.

"I'm going to bring the BAU into this case. The escalation shown by this psychopath is beyond dangerous and the sooner we get him the better everybody is going to sleep."

Simmons nodded thoughtful. "I've had the pleasure of attending one of Agent Hotchner's seminars once. It would be good to have his team take a look at this case. I take it your brother can't help you any longer?"

"He'll have to calculate this new set of data into his geoprofiling, but it has already shown irregularities that he himself can't explain."

"Okay," Simmons nodded again, „but I have to talk to my boss. He won't be happy, if I bring more federal agents into this case."

Don sighs but keeps from rolling his eyes. He hated politics. He was sick of it; he just wanted to solve this case. "Tell him that they only consult. LAPD will get all the credits."

"Right," Simmons said tired and motions with his head that he wanted to continue with his task.

"The next briefing is 1200 hours. Until then I'll have notified the BAU and will see when they'll be able to join us."

"Okay." And with that the detective made his way towards his next goal.

"Go home. Get some sleep." Liz said. "I'll handle everything."

"You're sure?" Don was so tired that he hardly resisted her offer.

"Yeah don't worry," she patted him dismissively on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Don mumbled and made his way to his car. How he made it back to his apartment he did not know. But as he shed his close and crawled into his bed sleep finally took him. He did not dream that night.


	6. But we fear

_Death in itself is nothing; but we fear  
To be we know not what, we know not where._

_-__ John Dryden_

He stood behind a tree, watching as the first patrol car arrived. The adrenalin was still pumping through his veins; he felt jubilant, powerful, and indestructible. The fear in his victim's eyes still vivid in his mind.

Fear, shock, horror, disgust that was in all of his victims faces, as he slowly destroyed they beloved pet. Disbelieve that it was happening to them, the wish that he would stop hurting the animal; in the end they wish he never would, because that meant he would turn his blade on them.

He felt himself grow hard again, arousal rushed trough him as he remembered what had happened mere minutes ago.

Slowly and quietly he made his way through the dark and silent neighborhood. He knew that no one would see him, knew no one would know that he was even here.

The peaceful quiet was disturbed by more blaring sirens, but he would long be gone before they even knew it was him.

The butcher, he thought and felt anger flare up. He was an artist! Not some bum from the street with a blunt knife.

He knew what he was doing, knew how the body worked – how body and soul where connected.

He didn't butcher, he purified those who needed it.

Colby groaned as he woke out of his fitful slumber. What a night, he thought as he tried to shift his body into a new position. He hissed as jolts of pain shot through him.

Colby watched as his room was slowly illuminated with the soft grey light of pre-dawn.

A new nurse swept into the room greeting him cheerfully. What was it with mornings and cheerful peoples, Colby thought scornfully.

"Good morning, honey," she said sweetly, as she started to take his vitals. "I'm Garcia your nurse during the day. How are you feeling today?" She was an elderly nurse, no doubt with lots of children and grandchildren. She had an aura of calm and peace around her, just like his on nana.

"My back's killing me. I haven't slept at all. Can I go home now?" Colby didn't often do whiny, but nurse Violet had made it clear that she wouldn't buy his macho bullshit, so why keep trying; right now he just didn't care anymore how he sounded. Garcia smiled, but rolled her expressively brown eyes. "No sweetie you can't go home just yet. The doctors will tell you when you can – after they examined you again to see, if you don't have any other injuries. Just be patient." She patted his knee affectionately.

"When will that be?" He really didn't like hospitals.

"The doctors make their rounds around 8 o'clock." She answered patiently.

Another hour, great, Colby thought bitterly.

"Are you hungry, honey? You should eat something. The pain medicine shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach." She didn't wait for Colby to answer, just bustle out of the room to get him something to eat. The barely eaten zwieback had vanished at one point during the early morning.

Colby tried to rearrange him again, the pain in his back was even worse than the pain from his broken ribs. But just when he lay still; he hissed as the pain flared up again, as he tried to turn on his left side bringing tears to his eyes. His shoulder was screaming in agony. He hadn't seen his bruised chest yet, courtesy of the neck brace, but he imagined that he had a nice impression of the seatbelt from shoulder to hip. Thanks to the new pain his back hurt less, if that made sense. Before he could try his other side Garcia returned with a plate of buttered bread and a feeding cup of tea.

"Here you go," she said happily presenting Colby with the food, as if it was something special. She smiled encouragingly as she placed the cup in Colby's hand. He drank dutifully not wanting to disappoint her.

"That's it." She smiled than gave him a slice to eat. He nibbled at it, but couldn't manage much.

"That's alright. Don't worry, honey. You'll eat a big juicy steak in no time again." Colby just nodded the thought of steak made his stomach grumble in disdain.

"I'll be back in an hour. If you need anything just call. Okay?"

Colby nodded again and closed his eyes listening to Garcia's soft footsteps leaving the room. He slowly drifted off hoping to get some more rest before the doctors would arrive.

Don woke to the shrill ringing of his alarm clock. Fumbling he turned it off and smashed his face into the cushion groaning. He hate it when he was woken out of his deep sleep it made getting up even harder when all he wanted was continuing to sleep. Turning on his back he opened his eyes blinking slowly the sleep away. He starred at the ceiling scratching idly at his chest, thinking about the previous night.

Images of Colby lying on the asphalt obviously in pain appeared, of him lying in the back of an ambulance. A cold band squeezed itself around his heart. Broken ribs and bruises; it could have been so much worse.

People often underestimated the force involved in car accidents. Even with less than 20mph life threatening injuries could occur; sitting in a wrong position or hitting your head bad could mean death. He heard enough gruesome and tragic stories from his friend in the traffic police department to turn his stomach.

Don signs and rolls out of the bed. Maybe a shower and a good cup of coffee would lift his spirit. He made his way into the bathroom losing his boxer on the way there into the hamper.

He turned the water on and waited for it to get hot before he walked under the warm spray. Don stood there letting the water beat down his back. Some of the knots loosened and he felt the slowly sneaking migraine disappear.

Normally he would seek a little release now, but junior wasn't interested at all; the moment he woke up he got soft. He squeezed a little soap on his hands and started to wash himself, running his hands over his arms and chest to his growing before he bowed down and washed his legs and feet. Then he attacked his hair massaging shampoo into it before rinsing all the lather of his body.

His hair had gotten a little too long, he mused as he stood in front of the mirror drying himself with a towel. He reached for his razor and started to shave. He had them grown out because of Robin, she'd liked it to run her hands trough them. Don decided to cut them again it was long overdue.

After his cheeks were smooth again Don wandered into the kitchen to make himself a coffee, while he the water run through the filter he walked back into his bedroom and put some close on. A loud rattle signaled him that his coffee was ready. He got back into the kitchen and put two slices of toast into the toaster; he wasn't really hungry but he knew that he needed to eat something. While he waited for the toaster to do its magic he poured himself a cup of the liquid black gold and took a few sips.

The slices popped out of the toaster and Don took them and smeared butter and jam on them. He sat down to eat his light breakfast planning what he would do next.

He needed to go down to the office and call the BAU, sent them copies of the reports and evidence; requesting their help. But before that he needed to see Bob to get rid of the hair and then visit Colby to see when he would be released.

Finishing his breakfast, he put the plate and cup into the sink then grabbed a jacket and his keys and left the apartment.

Colby swallowed his pain meds as the door to his room opened and Don walked in.

"Hey," he greeted him.

Colby blinked, and then blinked again. Nope he wasn't imagining it.

"What happened to your hair," he asked dumbfound.

"I cut it," Don answered as he shoved a chair near Colby's bed.

"Why?"

Not that he didn't liked it. The shorter hair made him look youthful, competent and more in charge. Colby had always thought that the longer hair had Don made look like a man in a mid-life crisis trying desperate to prove everyone that he was still young and capable.

"I felt like it," Don said and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Looks good," Colby said drowsy the pain meds finally kicked in.

"Thanks." Don sounded oddly pleased. They felt silent Colby doze peacefully while Don just watched him.

Colby looked bad in the bright light of the room; he was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. His face locked tense, not peaceful, even with the pain medication. At least the brace was gone that was a relief. There was a deep frown that Don always found adorable under other circumstances. He felt a sudden urge to kiss it away and wasn't that just wonderful? On top of his still too raw break up with Robin and this horrible case he'll have to question his sexuality. It was not like he was a virgin with men. He'd shared one or two handjobs, once even a blowjob, with Cooper during a rough hunt. Still Colby was different, with Cooper he'd seek some sort of relief nothing more; he'd never felt the urge to kiss him or sooth his pain. But the accident had ripped away shields and barriers that left him raw and vulnerable. Shields he had build the moment he met Colby.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. As he opened them again he saw Colby watching him through half closed eyes.

"How's the case?"

Don turned his head and starred at the wall across from Colby.

"Bad. It's bad. He's escalating. There wasn't much left this time, didn't even look human."

"Worse than the last," Colby said in disbelieve; he crunched up his face to ride out the sudden wave of nausea.

Don's hand twitched; he wanted to run it through Colby's hair and comfort him. He closed it into a fist instead.

"I'm bringing in the BAU. Charlie's at a loss. He closed himself into the garage and is climbing the walls because the math is contradicting itself. And it can't tell me what this man is thinking. David is still in Houston; he wanted to come back after I told him of your accident. But I managed to talk him out of it," he added hastily, as he saw that Colby wanted to protest.

Colby closed his mouth. "Good," he said.

Don smiled. "I told him that you wouldn't want that."

"This conference is important for him," Colby said and shifted around to find a more comforting position.

"You're a good friend Colby." Don said after a while. "Not everybody would think so."

Colby looked away. "We've been through a lot," he whispered.

"That you have," Don said. They felt silent.

"You too." Colby said after a moment. "You're a good friend," he continued as Don stayed quieted.

"Liz said to me once that you give people only a second chance after they messed up. You gave me a third."

"I wouldn't say you messed up. You did what you had to do," Don said quietly.

"I lied to you. To everyone."

"You did your job, Colby. And a good one."

"Still the two years were based on lies."

"You were still you," Don insisted.

"Everyone would have understood, if you didn't want to keep me on your team," Colby continued, as if Don hadn't said a word.

"You're a good agent. You were undercover for 2 years and nobody suspected anything. You know what you do. You do it good. You don't hesitate to do it, even when you're uncomfortable with it. You're a great asset to the team. You work well with everybody. Hell you accepted my brother, as if it was no big deal. And let me tell you that most people are extremely uncomfortable with working with him because his brain intimidates them. You treat him like he's your own brother. I would have been stupid to let you go Colb."

Colby starred at him shocked. Don ignored him.

"Yeah true it was a little rough after the incident. You can't blame me for that. I just had to get my thoughts straight." And wasn't that hilarious now? "But I still trusted you, even if I hadn't always showed it.

I trust you. You've long ago proved that I could."

Colby still starred at him for a minute after Don had finished his rant. He trusted him. He remembered they conversation while on the run.

'_I know you don't trust me, I get that, alright. But you have to understand, I trust you.'_

Don shifted around the chair clearly getting uncomfortable.

"Wow," Colby said at last. "That was the longest time I've ever heard you talk about your feelings. In front of me," he added as an afterthought. Don snorted.

"As I said I trust you." He smiled at him.

"I'm starting to get that." Colby smiled back.

"Listen I have to go back to the bureau to make some calls. There is a meeting at 1200 hours and I want to see when the BAU is able to join us. Did the doctors say anything to you? When will you be released?" Don said all this really fast; he clearly still felt a little bit uncomfortable after they chat about feelings and trust.

"They want to keep me for another day to see, if anything changes. If not I can go," Colby said and groaned about the prospect of another day in a hospital bed.

Don smiled and patted his forearm lightly.

"They make their rounds around 8 o'clock so I think I can go after that," he said hopefully.

"Okay. I'll be there to come and get you," Don said and stood up.

"You don't have to do this," Colby said hastily.

"And who else you're gonna call?" Don said smugly. "David is still in Houston."

"I can call a cab," Colby tried.

"Yeah sure," Don snorted. "I'm afraid you have to stick to me." He smiled and waved goodbye. "Cya."

And with that he left the room. Colby sighed and rearranged himself on the bed. "I'm not afraid of that," he said into the quiet of the room before he closed his eyes.

"Thank you Agent Jareau. I'll send all the files as soon as possible," Don said into his phone while pinching the bridge of his nose. "When can we expect you?" He leaned back in his chair running a hand through his hair.

"We're still working on the Ladon case, but as soon as we have sufficient results we're going to head your way. A couple of days; a week at least."

"Thank you again Agent Jareau. We'll speak again." He scribbled something down.

"Have a good day Agent Epps." The line went dead and Don put down the phone.

He then put all the reports, photos and other evidence into a digital file and send it. Her hoped the BAU shed some light on this case.


	7. What then is truth?

_"What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and; anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding."_

_-Friedrich Nietzsche_

The meeting with Det. Simmons went down, leaving them with few, but solid leads for once. Ian had made some good suggestions that he and Nikki were now following up on, while Liz worked on some other lead. Don was, once again, going through all their reports and evidence. The preliminary autopsy was lying before him and he skimmed through it.

"_Notes of examination of the bodies found murdered & mutilated in Inverness Dr. 3._

_Position of bodies,_

_The body of the woman was found naked in the middle of the couch, the shoulders flat, but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the couch. The head was turned on to the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle & lying across the abdomen. The right arm was slightly abducted from the body & rested on the mattress, the elbow bent & the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at a right angle to the trunk & the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubic bone__._

_The whole surface of the abdomen & thighs were removed & the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut & the skin and adipose tissue of the face was removed, revealing the skull. _

_[…]"_

Even now after some sleep and a morale boost from Colby, the images still turned his stomach and he had to fight down the sandwich he had eaten for lunch. He put the autopsy aside.

The lacerations were precise and obviously inflicted by someone that was familiar with the human anatomy.

They had already checked doctors, med students, butchers and other meat related jobs. Nothing. Well, it wasn't like they had any real suspects to begin with. Besides Owen and Willis. And neither of them had any connection whatsoever to a profession that required anatomical knowledge of the human body.

But all of the autopsy reports indicated that whoever it was had a background in both human and animal physiology.

Maybe some failed medicine student that then turned towards veterinary medicine? Or the other way around. But damn it, it was going to be a real piece of work. There were over 600 vets in the LA region alone, over 3700 licensed meat markets, let alone the 8975 physicians and that was only the general practitioner! Don sighed and rubbed his eyes.

The blood work and DNA results wouldn't be due for another week, but if the other results had shown anything, it was that the perpetrator had subdued the dogs so they wouldn't resist him. But they were still conscious as he started to slice them into tiny pieces for their owners to watch, who were bound and gagged and couldn't do anything.

He couldn't imagine what they must have gone through before they died.

Hopefully they would finally find some foreign DNA among all the blood, but Don doubted it. He spent another hour before he called it a night. He wanted to go and see Colby, but it was already past the regular visiting hours and if the same nurse was there as the last time, she would defend him like a wolf her cubs.

He decided to go to Colby's apartment now to get some clothes, so that he could sleep a little longer tomorrow, before he would pick Colby up from the hospital.

Grabbing his keys, Don walked to the elevator and took it down into the garage. The drive to Colby's apartment building was a short one; he was greeted by the young security guard as he entered it.

"Mr. Eppes. I'm sorry but Mr. Granger is not home," he said and Don was astonished that he had remembered his name. He had only been here once to see Colby and that was a long time ago.

"I know," Don said. "He had an accident. Oh, he's fine nothing serious. He'll come back tomorrow," Don added as he saw the concern in the young man's face. "I need to get some clothes that's all."

"Right," the guard, Nick according to his name tag, said and stood up. "Do you need me to open his apartment?"

"No I've got his keys. Don't worry." Nick nodded and sat back down as Don walked towards the elevator; the door slid open smoothly and Don walked in pressing the number 4 button for Colby's floor.

A short ride later and Don stood in front of Colby's apartment. He had keys for all his agents in case something happened. It was a sad thought. He sighed and opened the door. The last time he had been here everything was still in cartons and boxes. Now a stylish apartment opened up to him. It was still sparse but it had a feeling to it that said home. Don's own apartment had never felt like home, no wonder as he hardly ever lived in it, but he doubted that Colby had spent more time in his apartment then he himself. And still everything was warm and welcoming, even with its owner gone.

Closing the door behind him, he turned on the lights and crossed the living room to Colby's bed room; everything was clean and neat. He opened Colby's wardrobe and grabbed a clean shirt, sweatpants and a pair of socks. There was a small duffle bag on the ground so he took it and put everything in it. He closed the doors and turned the light off before he made his way back down.

He wished Nick a good night and drove to his own apartment where he stripped his clothes off and crawled into his bed trying very hard not to think about a certain agent.

Colby was watching TV as Don entered at half past eight. He'd spent the rest of the day dozing or watching TV. At twelve o'clock, a physical therapist came by to see how he moved, if he had any problems aside from the obvious one. She was a nice middle aged lady who was very professional and Colby was thankful for that, he hated PT's that got overly touchy; she told him about her grandchild and Colby told her about his niece he barely knew, but hoped to find the time to change that. At two o'clock Liz paid a visit to him; she brought him a book to read. It was one of his favorite authors and he was touched that she had remembered it. They'd talked for half an hour or so, mostly about the case but also about David and what he would talk about in his presentation. After she left Colby had slept for a while only to be woken by a grinning and teasing Nikki. Ian was there too, which Colby thought was cool. They had a good time together, Colby, for once, didn't mind that Nikki was making fun of him and Ian gave an accurate account of all the accidents he had been in. They left as dinner was served. Colby ate his buttered slice of bread dutifully and drank his tea, now thankfully no longer out of a feeding cup. He had managed to vary his sleeping position. Thanks to the new medication he was now able to lie on his right side, which was funny because he thought that it would hurt more to lie on his broken ribs. Either way, his back thanked him. But still, sleep would only come for few hours before he would wake up and the spiel started again.

"Morning," Don greeted him as he put a familiar duffle bag on the chair. "So, are you ready to be discharged?"

"Hm," Colby hummed his tired affirmation. "I can't wait to get home and take a shower."

"What, you didn't get a sponge bath from some attractive nurse?" Don leered.

"No, but it wasn't from lack of trying."

That wiped Don's leer away. "Is that wise, with the tape?" Don asked.

"Oh no, don't worry they didn't tape my ribs. The doc said they don't do it anymore because patients got problems. Pneumonia," he clarified and cautiously sat up.

"Easy," Don said and put a comforting hand on Colby's bicep. "I didn't know that. Anyway, I got you some clothes. Do you need help?"

"Yeah. Thanks. I can barely lift my arms without it hurting like a bitch."

Don nodded and opened the duffle bag to get the shorts and socks. He then kneeled before Colby and put the socks on before he started to help Colby get his feet through the holes. He pushed the shorts up to Colby's thighs, studiously not thinking about how muscled and well defined they were, and waited for Colby to stand up. Colby slid them the rest of the way up. He was already breathing heavy from this short exertion.

Don opened the hospital garn and hissed as he saw the deep black bruise across Colby's chest.

"Good Lord," he said. "That alone must really hurt like hell!"

"Yes, it does." His face was crushed up in pain.

Don took the shirt and helped Colby with efficient moves to put it on while trying not to touch the smooth, warm skin too much. He failed miserably.

At last he helped Colby tie up his sneakers. "Okay, I'll get the nurse. You just sit there and relax." Pretty. Look pretty, he nearly said ; he kicked himself mentally.

Colby did just that, concentrating on sitting upright and breathing.

"You wanna leave us already?" Garcia's voice startled him out of his trance and he winced at the pain. Colby looked at her and blinked stupidly.

"Oh, it's alright, honey. I can see the lure of your own bed is greater than our charming hospital. It's just a shame because Cynthia is coming in today and I wanted to hook you two up. She's such a sweetie, you two would have made such a nice pair."

Don, who had observed the whole scene from the door, glared at her. He felt a sudden burst of jealousy and protectiveness towards Colby that scared the shit out of him.

"Garcia," Colby said pained.

"Oh c'mon, she's a real babe as you would say it and she likes your type."

Damaged? Colby wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. Don coughed then and Colby was glad that he was here with him.

"Ma'am, could we get to the point. I haven't all day and I'm sure_ Agent_ Granger is capable of finding his own dates." Don congratulated himself for keeping his face and voice fairly blank.

Colby felt a rush of gratitude for his boss and smiled sweetly at Garcia.

"Of course," Garcia said and sighed dramatically. The actual signing took only a few seconds, Garcia's farewell a little longer, but before Don could say anything, another nurse showed up with a wheelchair. And after a short walk from the hospital entrance, Don finally helped Colby in his car and they drove off.

On the way to Colby's apartment, Don stopped at a grocery store to stock up on things he thought Colby would need; he also brought the prescribed medication while Colby slept in the car. At Colby's place Don fused like a mother hen around Colby, helping him get out his clothes and into the shower. Don tried very hard not to stare, but God damn, Colby's back and ass was a sight to behold.

While Colby showered, Don changed the sheets on the bed, fluffed the pillows and made something light to eat. He did think it was rather silly, but it didn't stop him at all. After he was finished he sat down and sipped his coffee, Colby had a really excellent coffee machine, and listened to the water run. In the light of the day, Colby's apartment looked even more appealing than in the soft light of his lamps. Everything fit together and the warm brown tone made it feel comfortable and calming. Don mused how Colby did it; if he had professional help, or if his inner geek was an interior decorator.

The water stopped and Don jumped up to help Colby, if he needed it. Colby walked out of the bathroom with only towel around his waist looking visibly more relaxed than before. Don took the chance to roam his eyes freely over Colby's body; even with the dark bruise over his chest he looked like sex on legs. Don felt arousal at the sight and tried to suppress his treacherous body's reaction, while he helped Colby into his boxers and soft t-shirt.

"You need to eat something before you can take your medication," Don said, already walking back to the kitchen while Colby slowly lay down. He groaned in pain as he tried to position himself into a position that hurt the least at the moment. He lay on his broken ribs and sighed softly.

"Here you go,"Don walked back into the room with a plate and a glass of water in his hands. He put the glass down on the bedside table while Colby watched him morosely.

"Come on Colby, you need to eat," Don said and smiled at him.

"Yes mother," Colby deadpaned and shifted, so that he could eat the toast Don had made him.

Don chuckled but didn't choose to comment. He watched as Colby ate his toast, and then gave him his medication. "I need to go into the office, but I'm going to check in on you in the evening. There are some sandwiches in the fridge, if you get hungry. I'll get you a bottle of water, so you don't have to move too much." Don noticed that he had started to babble and judging by the twinkle in Colby's eyes, he found it humourous.

"Okay," Don jumped up to get him the bottle.

"Thank you," Colby said simply and resettled himself.

Don got the bottle and put it next to the glass. Colby had already closed his eyes and seemed to sleep; Don felt reluctant to leave him, he leaned against the door frame and watched him sleep.

Minutes crept by before he was able to rip himself away and with a deep yearning he made his way to the office.

Colby woke to the rattling of keys; his front door opening, then closing, soft footsteps, then something heavy making contact with his kitchen counter. After a few seconds of silence, the door to his bedroom opened and Charlie's curly head appeared.

"Hey Colby," he whispered as he saw that Colby was awake. "I didn't wake you, did I?" Charlie moved closer to his bed.

"No," Colby lied. "What time is it?"

Charlie looked at his watch. "It's ten past one. Don asked me to keep you company. So, do you need anything?"

Ten past one; he'd only slept 2 hours. He shifted around, the painkiller seemed to be still working.

"No, I'll just go back to sleep."

"Okay, I'll be on the couch. Just call if you need something," Charlie said but made no move to go. "You had us all worried," he said, then left before Colby could say anything.

Colby turned on his right side and shifted around for a more comfortable position. He felt oddly touched that Don didn't want him to be alone. With that thought, he fell asleep.

The next time Colby woke, was with the luxuriating feeling of still being half asleep. He yawned and was on his way to stretch himself as a stab of pain shot through his body, making him flinch and then freeze. Hello there, ribs he grimaced. He lay there for a moment, letting the pain subside as he listened to Charlie shuffling papers and the clicking of keys as he tapped away furiously on his laptop.

Colby shifted around to get into a sitting position, groaning with every move that agitated his ribs and shoulder. Looking around, he caught sight of his clock telling him that it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He sighed and grabbed the bottle of water that Don had left for him, taking a long drink from it. His bladder then chose to make itself known and he slowly stood up, wincing with every step he took.

After relieving himself, he returned to his bedroom and found Charlie standing in his doorway.

"Hey," he said.

"You're awake," Charlie answered.

"Obviously," Colby smirked at him and Charlie smiled sheepishly back.

"You want something to eat?"

"Yeah, sure, why not. I could eat," Colby said and was amazed that he really was hungry. He followed Charlie into his living room and lifted an eyebrow at the mess Charlie had made.

"Sorry about that," Charlie said as he grabbed the stuff Don made earlier out of the refrigerator.

Colby shrugged and winced, he really shouldn't do that. "As long as you clean it up again," he said and slid onto one of his barstools.

"Of course," came Charlie's reply.

"What is it exactly you're doing?" Colby was always curious about Charlie's work. The longer he worked with him, the more he actually understood about it.

"Oh it's just college stuff, grading and other things."

"Didn't sound like it. You were clearly abusing your keyboard," Colby said after he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Oh? Really?" Charlie leaned onto the counter and hung his head. "It's just," he started before Colby could answer him. "The case is driving me nuts."

"So I heard," Colby said before Charlie continued.

"And Amita…"

Uh-oh trouble in paradise, Colby thought. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's just. She is hinting, not so subtlety, that I should ask her the 'm' question," Charlie answered, frustrated.

Commitment issues much? Colby thought. Must be an Eppes thing.

He sighed. Pot to kettle?

It wasn't like he hadn't tried. It was just that he hadn't met the right person yet and as an Ex-Army Ranger/FBI Agent, the task was even harder. An image of a smiling Don popped into his mind but he squashed that thought before it had time to take roots. That would only end in a broken friendship and heartache.

"You don't want to marry her?" He asked Charlie to distract himself. To him, the two of them looked like the perfect couple.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's the pressuring I have a problem with. Now that Don is single again, Dad's giving me the 'm' stare, too," Charlie sighed in frustration.

"You know, I'm not the best guy to give you advice or anything. It isn't like this is a TV show and some stupid writer thinks you two should be together because it fits into the story, regardless of chemistry or other stuff. But my Grandma used to say that I would know the moment I meet the right person; the person that I would want to settle with. You know, I don't buy into this whole soul mate shit, but I'm willing to let myself be surprised. So, if you don't feel Amita is it for you, then she isn't. And no writer should force something that is not there. You can only try for so long to get the right feeling before it's too late. Que sera sera," he hummed. "Whatever will be, will be." He finished of his sandwich and drained the glass of water Charlie had filled for him.

"Not that I'm saying you should just dump her or anything. You should do the 't' word with her. Talking."

Charlie grimaced and sighed in resignation. "I know."

"You've been avoiding it? Charlie, the worst thing you can do is prolong it. It's not fair for either of you and will only end in hurt feelings. And I really like working with both of you." He heaved himself of the stool and made his way slowly back to his bedroom. This little talk had made him tired, not only physically but also emotionally. He was just not fit enough for this shit.

Charlie remained at the counter, clearly thinking about what had been said. With a groan of relief, Colby lay down; his back and neck had been killing him during his short stay in the kitchen and he felt a heavy migraine creeping up his cramped back. He couldn't take another painkiller so he resigned himself and tried to relax into his bed. He fell into a restless sleep.

Don was sitting in the war room, musing over the evidence board as David walked in.

"Don," he greeted him and perched himself on the table in front of his boss.

"I thought you were staying for another day," Don said confused; he thought of Colby and what he'd said about this conference being so important for David. Slowly, the anger bubbled up; it must have shown on his face.

"Don't worry," David said before Don could say anything. "I switched panels with someone so I could come home earlier."

Don nodded and his anger evaporated; he pinched the bridge of his nose. "How was it?"

David shrugged non-committally. "Okay. I guess."

Don lifted an eyebrow but said nothing.

"How's Colby?" And it was clear that this question had been burning on his tongue for quite some time. Don had called David only briefly the other day, after visiting Colby, to tell him that he was okay.

"He's home, sleeping. I wanted to go to him after work, see if he need's anything. You can come with me and surprise him. I asked Charlie to stay with him and I think my Dad's making something to eat, so we can celebrate his stupid luck."

David smiled at that. "Liz and Nikki?"

"I don't know about Liz, but Nikki's with Ian ad I think they have other plans. Ian's only here for another day before he leaves for his next hunt."

"Okay," David nodded. "How long will you stay here?"

Don looked at his watch, it was already past seven. He sighed with frustration. The case had run itself into a dead end. Again. All leads left them with exactly nothing. Don was sick and tired of being so useless. All they could do was to wait and hope the BAU could shine some new light on it. He feared that they wouldn't have to wait long for the next victims to show up.

"I'll just finish this up," he motioned towards the files that he had spread across the table. "Why don't you ask Liz if she wants to join us?"

David nodded again and left Don to his task. He flipped the open files close and shuffled them together. With another glance at the evidence board he left the room.

He saw David at Liz's desk, chatting her up with smiles and felt gratitude. He was sincerely glad that David was back now, but not only because of the case. He was glad because now he wasn't alone with Colby anymore. David's presence would surely keep his inappropriate thoughts at bay.

Liz and David joined him as he grabbed his keys and together they made their way out of the building.

Colby woke up again to the sound of voices in his living room; he tried to hold on to his sleep, but it was futile. Listening to the voices, he lay there quietly trying to find out who was there. Charlie's slightly higher voice he could easily make out, then there was a deeper booming voice Colby connected with Mr. Eppes. He frowned as he heard a softer female voice. There were two other male voices, but they were further away, so he couldn't place them. He tried to listen to what was said but could only make out a few words that made no sense to him. The sound of approaching footsteps brought him back to his surroundings. His bedroom door was opened and a small streak of light flooded the dark room. A shadowed figure appeared in the gap and peered inside.

"Hey." It was Don. He stepped inside and came closer to Colby's bed, as he saw that Colby was awake. "How do you feel?"

"Okay. What's happening out there?"

"Oh, Liz came over and Dad cooked some delicious meatballs. We just wanted to celebrate that you're alright."

Colby just nodded, slightly stunned. The door opened wider and another figure appeared. Don turned on the bedside lamp so that Colby could see who it was.

"Why are you here?" Colby said the moment his eyes adjusted to the light.

"Good to see you too," David said with a grin.

"No seriously. I thought you'd still be in Houston." Colby scowled at him.

"I changed my panel so I could come back earlier and keep an eye on you. I barely leave you alone and you think you can crash your car," he joked.

"Ha ha, very funny," Colby sulked and Don found it irrationally cute. He left them alone before he could say something stupid, trusting David that he would not forget to bring Colby out for dinner.

The food was already placed on Colby's small table; they had to shove everything together to fit all the plates on, it but it added only to the overall comfortable feeling of Colby's apartment. Charlie and Liz nursed a bottle of beer, talking quietly on the couch while his father still fussed about something in the kitchen.

"Are they coming?" Charlie asked as he saw Don leaving the bedroom. "I'm starving!"

"Haven't you eaten lunch?" Alan asked his son as he put another dish on the already packed table.

"No, I kind of forgot it," Charlie answered sheepishly.

"It's time you and Amita get a move on. She's good for you. Reminds you to eat and sleep," Alan said.

Charlie's face went blank, if that was even possible, Don thought.

"I managed to sleep and eat before Amita, Dad," he said in a carefully neutral manner.

Before this could turn into another argument, Colby and David entered the room; David had a supporting hand on Colby's back and both men smiled cheerfully. Don felt a stab of jealousy that he squashed down brutally. There were just friends, he reminded himself. It hurt none the less to see Colby smile like that because of another man. He grabbed a beer and took a deep gulp, angry with himself that he couldn't control his feelings. There would never be anything between him and Colby, he'd just had to put his feelings back into the deepest, darkest corner of his brain and forget that he ever had them.

He could be Colby's friend and that should be enough.

"Are you hungry?" Don smiled and hoped it looked natural.

"Yeah, starving actually. The plane food was horrible," David said; Colby just nodded.

They all gathered at the table and began to eat. While Colby didn't even manage to eat half of his meal, he still had a good time with his friends. They talked and laughed and had fun. Don was already on his third beer as Charlie and Alan decided to call it a night. Liz left after his fifth and David wanted to leave shortly after her.

"Do you need a lift?" he asked Don, who looked ready to pass out. Colby was slumbering in an awkward position on the couch, his face furrowed.

"No, but thanks," Don mumbled tiredly. "I'll get Colby into bed and then walk home."

"Okay," David said and yawned.

"Go sleep," Don said and stood up; he swooned a little as the room started to spin. "I'll see you on Monday."

David nodded his goodbye and left with a last glance at Colby.

Don finished his beer and sighed. He was so tired. Drinking that much beer had looked like a good idea at the time, but now he regretted it.

He nudged Colby gently with his toe "Come on sleeping beauty, time to go to bed," he said quietly.

"Do I have to move?" Colby asked sleepily. "Nothing's hurting at the moment," he mumbled.

"Did you take your medicine?"

"No."

Don rubbed his eyes, then left Colby to get his painkillers. Colby listened to his soft footsteps.

"Here," Don said and Colby jumped as he felt Don's hand on his shoulder, regretting the movement instantly. "Oh," he winced and took a deep breath before taking the pills and the glass of water. He hadn't noticed Don getting him one.

"Sorry," Don apologized wincing with Colby.

"'S okay. You're my Prince Charming, after all," he joked. Don turned away, not wanting Colby to see how his face was burning at the comment.

"Come on then," Don said, taking the glass and putting it in the sink. Colby was still sitting on the couch when he returned.

"Need help?"

"Yeah," Colby said and lifted his right hand. Don hesitated a moment before he took it and heaved him up. Colby overbalanced and leaned into Don, resting his head on Don's shoulder.

"Thanks," Colby mumbled. They stood like that for a few seconds. It felt like eons to Don, who soaked Colby's warmth up into him.

Colby sighed; his warm breath gushing over Don's neck making him shiver. Slowly, he parted from Don and made his way tentatively towards his bedroom, leaving a shocked Don behind in the living room.

It took Don a while to get back to his senses. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; he could still smell Colby's shampoo. Shaking his head, he followed Colby to see if he made it to his bed.

"You know you can stay here, if you like. I don't mind," Colby said as Don entered his bedroom and Don's heart skipped a beat. He gulped trying to moisten his suddenly dry mouth.

"I don't know, your couch doesn't look comfortable at all." It was true. For all his tasteful furnishing , Colby's couch was tiny and not meant for sleeping on.

"You can have the other side of the bed," Colby said sleepily and Don's heart started to race. "I don't like the idea of you walking three blocks at this time of night," he said.

"I can handle myself," Don said, gently touched by Colby's concern.

"Said the drunken driver before he crashed his car," Colby retorted. "The bed is big enough and I don't bite," Colby said with a yawn.

Don had to close his eyes at the sudden image of Colby biting him. He suppressed a groan, barely, as his body started to react.

"Please," Colby said and watched Don through hooded eyes.

He was so screwed.

Don turned all the lights off before he stripped to his shirt and boxers. Crawling into the bed, Don made sure to keep the largest possible space between him and Colby.

"Night."He heard Colby mumble before his breathe evened out. Closing his eyes, Don's last thought was that this was a very bad idea.


End file.
